


Island Breeze

by ETNMystic



Series: Our Eternity Together [10]
Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Resurrection, Snakes, i don't really watch him, idk - Freeform, idk if I'll get Bretman right, kind of body modifications, so it might be slightly different
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-04-06 11:33:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 28,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19061803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ETNMystic/pseuds/ETNMystic
Summary: Mystic and the others end up on a series of islands. Hoping to relax, the others take in the downtime of the various condos, mansions, and villages provided. But Mystic can't let her guard down, locking herself in her bedroom. In spite of recent events, will Penelope be able to regain Mystic's trust so she can hypnotize her to help conquer her anxieties? Will Mystic learn to trust in others and herself? Will Envy tell Alice how he feels? And how many questions are there?The answer is way too many.





	1. The Arrival

_**Caw! Caw!** _

I felt something warm shine down on my face as birds cawed above me and water crashed. Blinking my eyes open, I felt a cool sea breeze as I sat up. I felt something slide down the back of my head. Standing up, I brushed the rest of me off to realize that it was sand. Looking around, I was astonished at just how clear and beautiful the ocean was. But I also realized that I couldn't see any sign of another island.

"We've.....landed on a coastline.....I think," I gasped. 

Looking around, I saw several others begin to stir. My first instinct was to simply run away, but I had to suppress that urge. I needed to learn to trust in others, but that didn't stop the anxiety from overtaking me. 

I tried to listen to what the others were saying, but thoughts kept racing through my head.

_What if the Cursed God finds this place?_

_What if there's no food or drinkable water?_

_Are we going to have to devour each other to simply stay alive?_

Thoughts like these plus the sun beating down on me made it difficult to stand up. The world around me began to spin and echo. I felt myself stumble around as I tried to make my way towards them, but I felt myself becoming light-headed. It was at that moment that I noticed how shallow my breathing was and how quickly my heart was beating. Everything was beginning to double or even triple in my vision. 

Then darkness, complete and total.

* * *

 

_Do you think it was heatstroke?_

_It could very well have been, but I feel like she could've had a panic attack as well._

_Neither of those are fatal, right?_

_I mean, we got her inside pretty quickly and we have a fan going on at full blast. I think she'll be fine._

_Do you think her foot will be okay? It looks pretty bruised._

_Don't worry. You all used the pocket x-ray; there wasn't any sign of a break or fracture._

_Oh! Poor sweet girl, she's gone through so much these past few months, especially emotionally._

_You don't say?_

_I just want so badly to protect her from this cruel world, but I feel like she'd just get mad and try to run away again._

_It might be for the better if we did once in a while, I'm afraid. If we let her go out on her own **too much,** she may be liable to get herself into some unnecessary troubles. But the downtime we have now should help alleviate her anxieties. _

_I think she can handle it. She's a tough little muffin._

_Yes, but every muffin reaches a point of crumbling. Where that is for Mystic, I don't know, and frankly I don't want to find out._

I could barely make these out as I slowly opened my eyes. The cool air was a relief to me. I felt someone placing cold, wet cloths on my face, and I sighed.

"What.....happened? Where am I?" I croaked out slowly. 

I heard a cry of relief and I could just make out a blurry Ro in my vision. 

"You passed out when you were trying to make your way over to us on that coastline," Alice informed me.

"You took quite a fall," Matt added.  
"Your foot's pretty bruised, but it seems to just be a sprain. Jael let us borrow her pocket x-ray to check."

"Where am I?" I repeated.

"We found a rather nice house on this island," Safiya answered as she replaced a cloth with a colder one.  
"In fact it looks to be a chain of islands connected by bridges, all with nice houses and electricity."

I wasn't sure how that was even possible, but hell, I wasn't going to complain.

"So.....we won't have to eat each other to stay alive?" 

"No," Colleen giggled gently as she turned my pillow over to the cold side.   
"I promise that won't happen."

"If that were to happen, I would make damn sure I wouldn't be the first," Nikita scoffed.

I was bracing myself for a comment about how I have so much fat on me that I'd probably be the first one gone. 

"You'd probably be the first so that you wouldn't have to watch the rest of us do it," Gabbie assured me.

"I think you'd go into a sugar coma if you ate Mystic," Matt chuckled.  
"And if you ate her with Ro, then your pancreas would likely die ten times over from their sweetness."

Hearing this, I felt myself blush and I tried to hide my face but Ro, being the ever sweet and playful faerie she is, pulled them back until you could see my face. She giggled at my, apparently, adorable embarrassment. 

"Why am I getting embarrassed over a cannibalism compliment?" I laughed. 

I tried to sit up, but someone else pushed me back.

"I'm afraid you need to rest, dear," Penelope replied in a caring tone.  
"Especially with your bruised foot. Try to get some sleep."

After Saf removed the cloths and made sure my foot was wrapped in a specialized ice pack, the others left. I turned over and closed my eyes, trying to let the calm drift over me.


	2. falling

_darkness_

_all around me._

_i'm floating_

_into nothing._

_i try to open my eyes._

_i feel his presence near_

_so why am I calm?_

_smoke slithers round me_

_covers like a cocoon._

_inside i feel a never-ending caress_

_of my head and face._

_my mind tells me to struggle_

_my body does not listen_

_my mind follows with my body_

_and I fall_

_fall_

_fall_

_f_

_a_

_l_

_l_

_f_

_a_

_l_

_l_

_into his embrace_

_from which i cannot escape._

_i am here for eternity_

_queen of eternity_

_innocence incarnate_

_peace at last_

_right?_


	3. What About Alice?

No. 

NO.

NO!

NO! NO! NO!

NOOOOOOOOOOO!

It took me a few moments for me to realize I was shrieking. And it took me even longer than that to realize that someone was restraining my struggling body. 

Actually several somebodies were restraining me. 

"GET ME OUT OF THIS! LET ME GO! I WON'T STAY WITH YOU! I DON'T LOVE YOU! I DON'T! LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!"

I howled in a desperate attempt to get my procurers to release me, but they had a firm grip on me, which only made me struggle and scream even more.

_Mystic! Wake up! You're safe!_

And then suddenly, I stopped thrashing. My breathing became shallow and my vision reappeared. I didn't feel my eyelids open, and only then did I feel tears falling down my face. My whole body trembled in the shock of it all. I wanted to say something, but I couldn't think of anything.

Slowly, Penelope, Nikita, Ro, and Safiya let go of me. I tried to hold back my tears, but the attempt was fruitless.

"I'm alright," I croaked out as I tried to move my muscles, which were extremely tense and aching, causing me to whimper and wince in pain.

Beads of sweat also slowly slid down my face. 

"You certainly did not seem alright," Penelope replied worried.  
"The anxiety's really getting to you."

I sighed.

"It was him. I saw him in.....my dream," I panted.  
"Th-th-there was this......purple cocoon, and he wrapped me in it, and I felt him......caressing me...inside of it."

Alice, hearing this, began to ponder something. 

"I.....I think I've read something about that. Cocoons in dreams can represent a lot of things. But I think in this case, you feel trapped."

"Yeah, no shit. Anything else?"

Some more thinking. She shook her head.

"Not at the moment."

All of a sudden, there was a knock at the door.

"Hey," Envy asked.  
"Can I talk to Mystic alone?"

"I'm afraid it will have to wait," Calliope told him  
"She just went through quite a troubling experience."

"No," I spoke up.  
"It's fine. I can talk with him."

"Are you sure?" Penelope asked worried.  
"We were hoping to stay with you to make sure you didn't have another nightmare."

I glanced at him, and just from the expression on his face, I knew EXACTLY what he wanted to talk about. How he knew that it had happened, I don't know, but here he was.

"Positive. It should only take a few minutes. Afterwards you can all come back."

Sighing, Penelope stood up as did the others and left the room. Alice was the last one to leave and Envy glanced longingly at her. The second she was gone, he shut and barricaded the door using a nearby chair. 

"I need to discuss something incredibly important, straighten out a few details," he told me.

"It's about your feelings for Alice," I stated.  
"Isn't it?"

He nodded shamefully.

"I was charged by the Dream Queen to protect her from any harm."

"Dream Queen?"

"Her mother."

I blinked in confusion.

"Wait. So wouldn't that make her---?"

"A princess? Yes."

"Great. So she's an actual princess," I sighed bitterly.

"Don't get all ENVYous about it," he chuckled as he sat down on a nearby chair.  
"You've got something too."

"Yeah, a Cursed God chasing after me, and the second we destroy him, I'll be back to being a nobody."

"That's not what I mean. I mean, you've got some secrets too. Secrets about yourself you don't know yet."

I rolled my eyes.

"You're just making it up to try to make me feel better."

He sighed heavily.

"If you don't believe me, then that's on you. But what you've got's just as good as being a princess, if not better."

"I wanna be the Dream Princess, though," I pouted.

"Look, if you're gonna act like a little kid about this, then I shouldn't have bothered to come to you," he growled.

He got up to leave and I panicked.

"No, wait, please."

He stopped.

"What......what sort of secrets about me do you know?"

Whirling back around, he sat down.

"There's a bigger reason for you being so heavily desired by the Cursed God. Within Alice's lineage, she can only master dreams. There are other skills she can master, but she's been more focused on her projection's standing and it's because of that, she's been held behind."

"Projection?"

"What we consider to be our earthly bodies," he explained.   
"How the soul manifests itself, starting from birth onward."

He leaned in closer.

"Tell me something. Social skills are not your strong suit, right?"

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. I'm autistic."

"It's because you're more focused on your soul----."

"If this is gonna be a whole "autistic people are closer to God" bullshit speech or anything close to that, then you can shut your damn mouth," I growled.

"No, in the real world, the world of your projection, you're human. You're no closer to any deity than anyone else and you're not sent to be the savior of the world."

"Then what's with this token bullshit?"

"It was because of Lydia Waverly."

I blinked and shook my head.

"What the fuck is with that name?"

"She's one of your descendants, another reason the Cursed God is after you. While you're human in the real world, if you stay in this world, your power can evaporate or lower the barrier separating reality from fiction. If that were to happen, reality and fiction would collide together in such a way that it births a unique and dangerous type of chaos. If the Cursed God manipulates you into releasing the hold on the barrier, history as we know it, life as we live it, and time as we experience it can and will change drastically. In that stage of chaos, anything can be rewritten to fit the needs and desires of the deity who is closest to the gatekeeper, in other words, you.  
"And in order to sustain those changes, the gatekeeper needs to be kept alive. If you die after the barrier is lifted, the changes revert and the deity closest to the gatekeeper will find the one closest to the deceased gatekeeper and manipulate them."

"Is that all? And what does this have to do with Alice?"

"No, not even close. And it doesn't. But you were so upset that she was a princess and you thought you weren't."

"Thought?" I tilted my head curiously.

He chuckled.

"You really thought you weren't a princess? Combine your powers with Alice's and you could be almost as unstoppable as Candy Pop in his own body. That is, if I can get her to train her soul a bit more."

"Then why is my soul 'more trained'?"

"Because your soul isn't as trained in the world of its projection as Alice's is. I mean, hers has a pretty decent amount of training, but your Special Interests and hyperfixations help give you an edge; executive dysfunctioning, face blindness, trouble with social skills and communication, depression, anxiety, all of that points to signs that someone's soul is royalty in the soul realm. Seems a lot of autistic people or those with ADHD often have more trained souls. I know you want to be seen as a normal human, and in this world, there's no question that you are. Those who have dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD, autism, etc,. are still mere mortals, just humans, in the world of projections, but in the soul realm, they're practically royalty. I guess it's sort of a trade-off. The privileged get their advantages in this world, but when the soul of someone who is disabled or disadvantaged is fully developed, which usually takes somewhere close to a century after birth, it leaves its projection and heads to the soul realm where the world is accommodated to them instead."

"That's not what I was told in Sunday school," I remarked raising my eyebrows.

"And you can believe what you were told in Sunday school or whatever makes sense to you. Thing is, your souls can swap between realms after you die. At least, that's what I've heard. Most of this soul stuff is what I've heard, but I KNOW you're the gatekeeper between reality and fiction, and likely a princess."

"Okay, but what about Alice? You know? Who you were originally here to talk to me about?"

He blinked.

"Oh, right. So you know how I feel then?"

"You really seem to love her."

"Why the heck did you read my mind?!?" he growled.

"I was bored in that bunker, okay?" I retorted.  
"Alice said you just kept saying her name over and over again in that factory, so I wanted to know why."

"I've been part of the queen's secret royal guard for a while now; and when you spend a lot of time around someone like her........God, it's infectious. Her aura's infectious. And that's why, you know? Back at that hotel?"

"Yeah, I know."

"So how the heck do I tell her?"

I gave this some thought. First off, why was he coming to me for romance advice? I've never had a S/O. I could've had one in 10th grade, but I turned him down. Second, if this was some sort of story, it was likely he'd get close to telling her only to be interrupted multiple times. 

"Shoot, fam. I don't know," I shrugged.  
"Try to avoid interruptions, I guess."

"I know, but like HOW?"

"How do you think she'd want to be told?"

"I don't know! I'm not a girl."

"We're not hive-minded!"

"You're not?" he sounded legitimately shocked.

I shook my head and he sighed.

"Would you at least ask her and then tell me?"

I shrugged.

"I can try."

* * *

**Penelope's POV:**

I wasn't normally a rather anxious person, however, as I stood at the kitchen counter, making myself, Gabbie, Erica, Tristen, Rosanna, Nikita, Safiya, and Alice cups of tea and some biscuits, this was an exception. Mystic's anxiety and downright fear had begun to infect my soul. I was worried that the poor dear was going to injure herself in a fit of nightmares. Her sprained ankle was minor, yet what if it were to become much more severe?

"Here you are," I announced cheerfully as I carefully placed a silver tray of eight white porcelain cups outlined in gold and accentuated with carefully crafted floral designs, a matching kettle, a matching sugar bowl, a matching pitcher of cream, several silver spoons, a small jar of honey, and a saucer of biscuits on the small table in the parlor. 

"Penelope, is something wrong?" Alice questioned.

"Who me? Oh no, I'm quite alright, thank you."

" _Why the fuck you lying? Why you always lying?_ " Erica sang, moving her head to an imaginary beat.  
" _Mmm, oh my God. Stop your fucking lying!_ "

"I am NOT lying, thank you very much. What on earth would make you think of such a thing?"

"Your dialect becomes super British and you get even more articulate when you have an obsessive and/or anxious thought."

"And it wasn't British and super articulate before?" Tristen questioned as she took a cup.

"No, she just has a really high-class American dialect and it just sounds British. But she becomes extremely British when she has an obsessive or anxious thought."

"It most certainly does not!"

"Penelope, I've known you for nearly two decades. Don't try to worm your way outta this."

It would seem that I had been, as the plebeians say, "called out." I sighed, quite clearly defeated. 

"I'm rather worried about Mystic. We haven't been here but a few hours and, in that time, she has collapsed to the ground, sprained her ankle, and had a fit of fright in her sleep."

"Just say she had a nightmare like a NORMAL FUCKING HUMAN!" Erica snarled.

"I do not know if you have noticed, Miss Vian, but I am not a normal human."

"Tell me something I don't know," she huffed.

"So then what can we do about it?" Safiya pondered.

"That's the query," I declared.  
"I know what could very well be done; however due to recent events, I highly doubt this could happen, as she would be on edge if I were to suggest it to her whilst she is in her current state."

"What do you mean?" Rosanna wondered.

I took a deep breath.

"I had the idea that perhaps I could utilize hypnosis to alleviate her anxieties."

 

 

 


	4. One Point Five

**Penelope's POV:**

"Hypnosis?" Rosanna gasped.  
"You want to hypnotize her again?"

"Don't you remember what happened the last time you tried?" Safiya exclaimed.

I sighed remorsefully.

"Yes, how could I forget? But this time, it would certainly benefit her to fall into one of my hypnotic trances. The trouble is getting her to trust me enough so that we avoid what happened last time."

"So how are you going to convince her?" Tristen wondered.

"That's just it. I don't quite know how to convince her. She's very strong-willed, even against my hypnosis."

"What if one of us tried to convince her?" Alice suggested brightly.  
"Surely she'd listen to someone she trusted more than the hypnotist. No offense."

"None taken as of now," I sighed.  
"Nonetheless, you're quite right. Perhaps someone she's closer with could help bring her guard down. So who should go first?"

They all glanced at one another.

"Maybe we should make a list and estimate how much she trusts each person on a scale of 1 to 10," Erica piped up.

"That's actually not a bad idea," Nikita agreed intrigued.  
"Someone get some paper and a pen. We've got work to do."

* * *

Roughly half an hour later, we'd written each person's name, and my dialect had died down back to its high-American:

 

Eva  
Glozell  
Oli  
Justine  
Andrea B.  
Sierra  
Joey  
Alex  
Liza  
Tyler  
Lauren  
Tana  
Andrea R  
Destorm  
Gabbie  
Alison  
JC  
Roi  
Teala  
Matt  
Colleen  
Safiya  
Rosanna   
Manny   
Nikita  
Calliope  
Mortimer  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Cedar  
Kasey  
Sequoia  
Hyacinthe  
Rene  
Taylor  
Lisbet  
Parris  
Caelan  
Briar  
Montana  
Jaiden  
Haven  
Shiloh  
Marly  
Roslyn  
Hazel  
Delta  
Silvia  
Darby  
Lacey  
Bailey  
Sasha  
Harlow  
Sunny  
Wynter  
Hecuba  
Lenox  
Ambrosi  
Blythe  
Slade  
Anniken  
Czcibor  
Gail  
Dilwyn  
Ruslan  
Jace  
Kilian  
Jael  
Ryu  
Katsumi  
Roanoke  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"Where do we begin?" Tristen gasped at the list.

"I'd say take out Marly to Kilian," Erica suggested.  
"She doesn't seem to have an opinion on them yet."

"Alright," I nodded.

Eva  
Glozell  
Oli  
Justine  
Andrea B.  
Sierra  
Joey  
Alex  
Liza  
Tyler  
Lauren  
Tana  
Andrea R  
Destorm  
Gabbie  
Alison  
JC  
Roi  
Teala  
Matt  
Colleen  
Safiya  
Rosanna   
Manny   
Nikita  
Calliope  
Mortimer  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Cedar  
Kasey  
Sequoia  
Hyacinthe  
Rene  
Taylor  
Lisbet  
Parris  
Caelan  
Briar  
Montana  
Jaiden  
Haven  
Shiloh  
Jael  
Ryu  
Katsumi  
Roanoke  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"I'd take out Cedar, Caelan, Briar, Montana, Jaiden, Haven, and Shiloh," Safiya piped up.  
"She also seems to not have strong opinions on them, so they wouldn't really be able to convince her."

"Very well then."

 

 

Eva  
Glozell  
Oli  
Justine  
Andrea B.  
Sierra  
Joey  
Alex  
Liza  
Tyler  
Lauren  
Tana  
Andrea R  
Destorm  
Gabbie  
Alison  
JC  
Roi  
Teala  
Matt  
Colleen  
Safiya  
Rosanna   
Manny   
Nikita  
Calliope  
Mortimer  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Kasey  
Sequoia  
Hyacinthe  
Rene  
Taylor  
Lisbet  
Parris  
Jael  
Ryu  
Katsumi  
Roanoke  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"That narrows things down a bit," Gabbie remarked.  
"I'd also take out Kasey through Parris, doesn't seem to have much of an opinion on them."

"Okay."

Eva  
Glozell  
Oli  
Justine  
Andrea B.  
Sierra  
Joey  
Alex  
Liza  
Tyler  
Lauren  
Tana  
Andrea R  
Destorm  
Gabbie  
Alison  
JC  
Roi  
Teala  
Matt  
Colleen  
Safiya  
Rosanna   
Manny   
Nikita  
Calliope  
Mortimer  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Jael  
Ryu  
Katsumi  
Roanoke  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"Anyone else she'd have a neutral opinion on?" I inquired.

"Not sure," Safiya answered.  
"We'll let you know with each name."

"Very well," I nodded.  
"Remember on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being she doesn't trust them and 10 being she would trust them with her life. Eva."

"I'd say maybe a 5?" Nikita hazard a guess.

"Probably 5," Alice agreed.

Eva-5  
Glozell  
Oli  
Justine  
Andrea B.  
Sierra  
Joey  
Alex  
Liza  
Tyler  
Lauren  
Tana  
Andrea R  
Destorm  
Gabbie  
Alison  
JC  
Roi  
Teala  
Matt  
Colleen  
Safiya  
Rosanna   
Manny   
Nikita  
Calliope  
Mortimer  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Jael  
Ryu  
Katsumi  
Roanoke  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"Glozell?"

There was a chorus of hesitation.

"I don't think she's all that close with Glozell," Gabbie informed me.  
"Put her at a 3."

The others nodded their heads.

Eva-5  
Glozell-3  
Oli  
Justine  
Andrea B.  
Sierra  
Joey  
Alex  
Liza  
Tyler  
Lauren  
Tana  
Andrea R  
Destorm  
Gabbie  
Alison  
JC  
Roi  
Teala  
Matt  
Colleen  
Safiya  
Rosanna   
Manny   
Nikita  
Calliope  
Mortimer  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Jael  
Ryu  
Katsumi  
Roanoke  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"Next is Oli."

"I mean, he seems like an okay guy," Erica shrugged.

"Yeah, but we need to look at it from Mystic's perspective," Alice piped up.  
"She doesn't seem to spend a lot of time with him. Call it a 5."

"I concur," Tristen nodded.

Eva-5  
Glozell-3  
Oli-5  
Justine  
Andrea B.  
Sierra  
Joey  
Alex  
Liza  
Tyler  
Lauren  
Tana  
Andrea R  
Destorm  
Gabbie  
Alison  
JC  
Roi  
Teala  
Matt  
Colleen  
Safiya  
Rosanna   
Manny   
Nikita  
Calliope  
Mortimer  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Jael  
Ryu  
Katsumi  
Roanoke  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"Next is Justine."

"I mean," Safiya pondered.  
"She's not super close, but not like distant. I'd say maybe 5 or 6."

"Six," Nikita agreed.

Eva-5  
Glozell-3  
Oli-5  
Justine-6  
Andrea B.  
Sierra  
Joey  
Alex  
Liza  
Tyler  
Lauren  
Tana  
Andrea R  
Destorm  
Gabbie  
Alison  
JC  
Roi  
Teala  
Matt  
Colleen  
Safiya  
Rosanna   
Manny   
Nikita  
Calliope  
Mortimer  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Jael  
Ryu  
Katsumi  
Roanoke  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"I really think we should eliminate more names," I sighed.  
"Otherwise this will take longer than we thought. Who do we keep?"

"I think we should keep those who've had the most influence on her," Rosanna piped up.  
"Good and bad."

"That means we can take MOST of the Society out," Safiya theorized.  
"We can also take out Glozell, Eva, Oli, Mortimer, Manny, Teala, Roi, and JC."

  
Justine-6  
Andrea B.  
Sierra  
Joey  
Alex  
Liza  
Tyler  
Lauren  
Tana  
Andrea R  
Destorm  
Gabbie  
Alison  
Matt  
Colleen  
Safiya  
Rosanna   
Nikita  
Calliope  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"I think we can also remove Destorm, Tana, Lauren, Alex, Joey, Sierra, and Tyler," Gabbie contributed.

Justine-6  
Andrea B.  
Liza  
Andrea R  
Gabbie  
Alison  
Matt  
Colleen  
Safiya  
Rosanna   
Nikita  
Calliope  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"What about Andrea B.?" I asked.

"She's caused a lot of trouble," Nikita scoffed.  
"I'd say 5."

Justine-6  
Andrea B.-5  
Liza  
Andrea R  
Gabbie  
Alison  
Matt  
Colleen  
Safiya  
Rosanna   
Nikita  
Calliope  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"Liza?"

"Maybe 6 or 7?" Safiya theorized.

"I'd say 6," Alice nodded.

"Duly noted," I replied.

Justine-6  
Andrea B.-5  
Liza-6  
Andrea R  
Gabbie  
Alison  
Matt  
Colleen  
Safiya  
Rosanna   
Nikita  
Calliope  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"Andrea R?"

"Definitely a 7 or 8," Gabbie exclaimed.  
"Highkey crush."

"Seven," Ro agreed.

Justine-6  
Andrea B.-5  
Liza-6  
Andrea R-7  
Gabbie  
Alison  
Matt  
Colleen  
Safiya  
Rosanna   
Nikita  
Calliope  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"Where do you believe you'd fall, Gabbie?"

She blinked rapidly and stammered.

"Shit, I dunno. Maybe seven?"

"No, I'd say 8 or 9," Alice contested.

"Definitely 8.5," Safiya concurred.

Justine-6  
Andrea B.-5  
Liza-6  
Andrea R-7  
Gabbie-8.5  
Alison  
Matt  
Colleen  
Safiya  
Rosanna   
Nikita  
Calliope  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"Really?" Gabbie sputtered.

"Girl's got a pretty decent crush on you," Nikita giggled.

"Moving along," I coughed.  
"Alison?"

"Probably 7 or 8."

"7," Safiya agreed

Justine-6  
Andrea B.-5  
Liza-6  
Andrea R-7  
Gabbie-8.5  
Alison-7  
Matt  
Colleen  
Safiya  
Rosanna   
Nikita  
Calliope  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"Matt?" I continued.

"8," Alice answered.

"Eh, maybe 7.75," Safiya specified.

Justine-6  
Andrea B.-5  
Liza-6  
Andrea R-7  
Gabbie-8.5  
Alison-7  
Matt-7.75  
Colleen  
Safiya  
Rosanna   
Nikita  
Calliope  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"Colleen?"

"6.5," Tristen guessed.

"Sounds about right," Erica nodded.

Justine-6  
Andrea B.-5  
Liza-6  
Andrea R-7  
Gabbie-8.5  
Alison-7  
Matt-7.75  
Colleen-6.5  
Safiya  
Rosanna   
Nikita  
Calliope  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"Where do you think you fall, Safiya?"

Now it was her turn to be at a loss for words.

"Shit, I don't know," she chuckled awkwardly.  
"I mean, she trusts me okay, I guess."

"Put her at an 8," Nikita replied bluntly.

Justine-6  
Andrea B.-5  
Liza-6  
Andrea R-7  
Gabbie-8.5  
Alison-7  
Matt-7.75  
Colleen-6.5  
Safiya-8  
Rosanna   
Nikita  
Calliope  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"Rosanna, where would you be on the scale?" 

She didn't really stammer. She just went "hmmm."

"Maybe an 8," she nodded.

This prompted several chuckles.

"Hon, don't sell yourself short," Nikita scoffed.  
"You'd be at a 9.5."

"Nah, a 10," Tristen giggled.

"I'd definitely say she has the most influence out of anyone," Erica agreed.  
"9.5."

Justine-6  
Andrea B.-5  
Liza-6  
Andrea R-7  
Gabbie-8.5  
Alison-7  
Matt-7.75  
Colleen-6.5  
Safiya-8  
Rosanna-9.5  
Nikita  
Calliope  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"And you, Nikita?"

"I don't think she trusts me as much of the cinnamon roll. Maybe a 7 at most, or a 5?"

"I'd say 6.5," Alice agreed.

Justine-6  
Andrea B.-5  
Liza-6  
Andrea R-7  
Gabbie-8.5  
Alison-7  
Matt-7.75  
Colleen-6.5  
Safiya-8  
Rosanna-9.5  
Nikita-6.5  
Calliope  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"Calliope?"

"7," Alice hesitated.

"7," Nikita asserted.

Justine-6  
Andrea B.-5  
Liza-6  
Andrea R-7  
Gabbie-8.5  
Alison-7  
Matt-7.75  
Colleen-6.5  
Safiya-8  
Rosanna-9.5  
Nikita-6.5  
Calliope-7  
Alice  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"Now on to writers. Alice?"

I saw her cheeks turn bright red.

"I dunno," she shrugged quietly, bowing her head shyly.  
"Maybe a 6."

"I feel like she trusts you the most out of the writers," Safiya contested.  
"I'd say a 7.5."

"Yeah, somewhere around there," Tristen nodded.

Justine-6  
Andrea B.-5  
Liza-6  
Andrea R-7  
Gabbie-8.5  
Alison-7  
Matt-7.75  
Colleen-6.5  
Safiya-8  
Rosanna-9.5  
Nikita-6.5  
Calliope-7  
Alice-7.5  
Nora  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"Nora?"

"6," Everyone replied.

"That was quick," I gasped lightly.

Justine-6  
Andrea B.-5  
Liza-6  
Andrea R-7  
Gabbie-8.5  
Alison-7  
Matt-7.75  
Colleen-6.5  
Safiya-8  
Rosanna-9.5  
Nikita-6.5  
Calliope-7  
Alice-7.5  
Nora-6  
Tristen  
Erica  
Dooper  
Ines  
Stella  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"Actually," Tristen piped up shyly.  
"I feel like up to Ines, it's 6s. Stella would probably be a 6.5. Cuz of the death challenge."

The others nodded in agreement.

Justine-6  
Andrea B.-5  
Liza-6  
Andrea R-7  
Gabbie-8.5  
Alison-7  
Matt-7.75  
Colleen-6.5  
Safiya-8  
Rosanna-9.5  
Nikita-6.5  
Calliope-7  
Alice-7.5  
Nora-6  
Tristen-6  
Erica-6  
Dooper-6  
Ines-6  
Stella-6.5  
Penelope  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"I already know where I fall," I sighed despondently.  
"0."

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself," Rosanna comforted me.  
"I'm sure she trusts you at least a little."

"Fine," I shrugged.  
"1."

"2," she asserted.

"You're being too nice," I smiled sadly.

Justine-6  
Andrea B.-5  
Liza-6  
Andrea R-7  
Gabbie-8.5  
Alison-7  
Matt-7.75  
Colleen-6.5  
Safiya-8  
Rosanna-9.5  
Nikita-6.5  
Calliope-7  
Alice-7.5  
Nora-6  
Tristen-6  
Erica-6  
Dooper-6  
Ines-6  
Stella-6.5  
Penelope-1.5  
Envy  
Candy Pop

"Envy?" I sighed.

"Probably 7.25," Safiya answered.

Justine-6  
Andrea B.-5  
Liza-6  
Andrea R-7  
Gabbie-8.5  
Alison-7  
Matt-7.75  
Colleen-6.5  
Safiya-8  
Rosanna-9.5  
Nikita-6.5  
Calliope-7  
Alice-7.5  
Nora-6  
Tristen-6  
Erica-6  
Dooper-6  
Ines-6  
Stella-6.5  
Penelope-1.5  
Envy-7.25  
Candy Pop

"Finally Candy Pop," I said in a low voice.

"2 or 3," Erica asserted.

Justine-6  
Andrea B.-5  
Liza-6  
Andrea R-7  
Gabbie-8.5  
Alison-7  
Matt-7.75  
Colleen-6.5  
Safiya-8  
Rosanna-9.5  
Nikita-6.5  
Calliope-7  
Alice-7.5  
Nora-6  
Tristen-6  
Erica-6  
Dooper-6  
Ines-6  
Stella-6.5  
Penelope-1.5  
Envy-7.25  
Candy Pop-2.5

I glanced down at the list. I was sure the numbers were right and it struck a blow to my heart. I had a lower score than a demon. A demon. My heart sank. I tried to keep my emotions down, but my poker face was failing me. 

"Penelope?" Rosanna wondered concerned.

"I......I think I need to be alone for a bit," I choked. 

Dropping the list, I rushed out of the house, tears blowing back as I ran to the coastline. The sky had clouded up now and the wind had picked up a bit. I dropped to my knees and grasped my knees to my chest as tears ran down my face. A set of lyrics hung around inside of my mind.

_This is gonna hurt, this is gonna hurt.  
Give it all we can, it'll never work.  
This is gonna hurt, this is gonna hurt.  
Beware of butterflies; they'll break your heart, your heart._

I thought I'd known what I was doing, I thought approaching it from my clinical, objective standpoint was effective, but it only made things worse. I know she said she was gonna gradually forgive me, but just seeing that number was a dagger to my heart. This was one of the biggest mistakes I'd ever made in my entire life. 

I heard a few sets of footsteps run towards me. Standing up, I wiped my eyes on my sleeves. 

"Penelope?" Safiya panted.  
"Are you okay?"

Taking a deep breath, I plastered a smile on my face and turned around.

"I'm alright," I lied, trying to keep my dialect from changing back to British.   
"Just need some fresh air and some time to myself."

"Are you sure?" Rosanna asked concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine," I replied quickly and maybe a little too harshly.  
"Please. Leave me be."

Shrugging, the group turned and left. When they shut the door, I ran over to a wall at the back of the beach, curled up into a ball, and wept.

* * *

**Gabbie's POV:**

As we returned from the beach, I couldn't help but wonder about Penelope. She was usually so stoic, but something made her break. Even though she claimed she was okay, I could see that plastered-on smile. 

"Hey, that's the list," Ro piped up, picking up the piece of paper.

We all gathered around her to see the scores. Our eyes immediately dropped to the bottom of the page. Penelope had given herself a 1.5 and Candy Pop a 2.5.

"Oh shit," I gasped, realizing.  
"She thinks Mystic thinks she's worse than a demon."

"No wonder she was so quick to run off," Ro choked.

"We have to get Mystic to drop her guard," Saf announced.

"Bitch, how?" Nikita scoffed.  
"She barely trusts any of us. Even Ro's not at a perfect 10."

"I have a feeling Mystic trusts herself even less," I sighed.

"Hey, you all removed anything sharp from her room, right?" Erica wondered.

We all glanced at each other in horror.

"No," I wheezed.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Nikita assured us.

"Wouldn't hurt to check," Safiya piped up concerned.  
"Mystic's moods are pretty unpredictable."

"But she and Envy could still be talking," Erica reminded us.

"I think we should check," Alice agreed.

"Yeah," I sighed.  
"It could also be a chance for all of us to try to convince her to drop her guard."

"It's settled then," Nikita clapped.  
"Let's get her drunk."

"We're NOT gonna get her drunk," Ro replied firmly.  
"We're gonna gather everyone who we ranked at a 7 or higher on the list and we'll send a few of us at a time to check on her."

As we all went to check around the house, I heard Nikita grumble under her breath.

"I still think a little alcohol wouldn't hurt."

 


	5. Out Loud

**Gabbie's POV:**

We poured over the list, picking which people to go to. Eventually we decided to order them by amount of trust:

Rosanna-9.5  
Gabbie-8.5  
Safiya-8  
Matt-7.75  
Alice-7.5  
Envy-7.25  
Alison-7  
Andrea R-7  
Calliope-7  
Colleen-6.5  
Nikita-6.5  
Stella-6.5  
Dooper-6  
Erica-6  
Ines-6  
Justine-6  
Liza-6  
Nora-6  
Tristen-6  
Andrea B.-5  
Candy Pop-2.5  
Penelope-1.5

"Poor Penelope," Ro sighed.  
"She's selling herself short."

"Realistically, it might not be as far off," Saf disagreed.  
"She was really pissed about that."

"What's the average level of trust out of these people, anyway?" Tristen wondered.

Safiya stood up and rushed to the kitchen. Flinging open drawers, after a while, she pulled out a pocket calculator, pressing buttons like wildfire.

"6.36 repeating," she announced.

"Great," Nikita sighed.  
"So who do we recruit?"

"I'd say anyone who falls below that average, we cross off," Safiya suggested.

"Good call," I agreed.

Our list narrowed down to twelve people.

Rosanna-9.5  
Gabbie-8.5  
Safiya-8  
Matt-7.75  
Alice-7.5  
Envy-7.25  
Alison-7  
Andrea R-7  
Calliope-7  
Colleen-6.5  
Nikita-6.5  
Stella-6.5

"And we take out those of us present who are still on that list," Saf continued.  
"That's Nikita, Alice, myself, Gabbie, and Ro."  
  
Matt-7.75  
Envy-7.25  
Alison-7  
Andrea R-7  
Calliope-7  
Colleen-6.5  
Stella-6.5

"That's only seven people we need to talk to," Alice noted.  
"Seems a bit more manageable."

"Let's get to it then," Saf declared.

"Let's get the bitch drunk!" Nikita clapped.

"We're not getting her drunk," I groaned as we continued our search.  
"At least not yet."

* * *

After some time, we'd gathered six of the seven and explained the situation. Envy, as usually, was MIA, in this case probably still talking to Mystic about whatever.

"So wait," Andrea stopped us.  
"Let me see if I've got this right. You're saying that Penelope thinks hypnosis will help Mystic's anxiety."

"Uh-huh," I noted.

"But Mystic's guard is still up."

"Yup."

"And you want US six."

She gestured to the group.

"To help you try to convince her to drop her guard."

"Basically."

"Why not just get her drunk?"

"Thank you!" Nikita groaned in relief.  
"SOMEONE agrees with me!"

"She's only 20," Colleen snapped.

"But why us six?" Stella wondered.

"We figured you, and Envy, and a few of us, are the people she has the most trust in," I told her.

"Are you sure?"

"I mean, it wouldn't hurt to try," Matt shrugged.  
"What do you want us to do?"

"That's the problem," I shrugged.  
"We're not sure how to approach the subject. I mean, if we tried playing mind games with her, she's gonna catch on and trust us even less."

"Envy!" Andrea exclaimed.  
"C'mon out here, Plant Boi!"

We all turned to see the shy plant man peeking in the doorway. He shuffled his way into the crowd and we explained our situation to him.

"If you'd told me sooner, I'd probably be able to start it off."

"How about we split off into groups and formulate a plan?" Rosanna suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Safiya shrugged.

* * *

**Alice's POV:**

We began to break off.

Then I felt something touch my shoulder.

"Can I talk to you in private for a bit?"

Envy.

"Of course."

A little area just off of the pool area. We sat there in silence for what felt like an eternity.

"So.....

"What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Twiddling with his vines.

He had something on his mind. 

"C'mon," I chuckled, placing my hand gently on his arm.

"You can tell me."

Blushing.

Didn't know plant people could do that. 

"Um.....

"I'm not sure how to put it."

"Then just say it."

Shaking his head.

"No, it would be wrong."

"What are you talking about?"

"It needs to be special."

"What does?"

Tilting my head.

"Alice, oh Alice."

Sighing, smiling sadly.

"I......well.....it's been a while since we've known each other."

I nodded.

"It has."

"And.......well........I.......things have.....happened."

"Yup."

Just get to the point. 

Please.

"And.....*gulp.*.........we've both grown."

"Yeah?"

Not sure where he was going with this. 

"And.....well...I suppose....in that time.....emotions have......become a thing."

"Definitely."

Another awkward silence.

_Say what you mean out loud!_

"Envy, whatever you need to say, just tell me. It doesn't need to be anything convoluted."

Deep breath, deep breath.

"Alice, I----"

"HEY!"

Gabbie.

"You two gonna come help?"

Gasp.

"Oh right."

Running towards the doorway, turning back to see Envy sitting by himself.

"Aren't you gonna come inside?"

"In a bit."

What had I done? 

I saw it on his face. He was nervous and upset about something. But I wasn't sure what.

 


	6. Blush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Storytime: (CW: Needles, blood, blood draws):  
> I had labwork done today and one of the tests was to test for diabetes. I had them use the butterfly needle because I have a fear of needles (I'm not gonna say the phobia name because it's TOO CLOSE in spelling to another phobia I have. If you know your phobia names, you might be able to figure out which one I'm talking about). But here's the thing. I used to be even worse about blood draws when I was a kid, and I used to have to get one every year (because I used to take supplements, which tasted awful btw, so they'd have to draw blood to see what needed to be adjusted).  
> Anyway it was really stressful on my parents because I was screaming/crying that, afterwards, they'd get me some sort of treat, like a Mister Misty (or Arctic Rush, for those of you who don't know the original name), one time, my dad bought me the game Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 with both the waterpark/zoo expansions.  
> Now that I'm 20, apparently I'm past the age where that's a thing and he's trying to break me of it. But it's kinda his fault. He conditioned me to associate those 2 things! And especially since my doctor kinda slipped it on me ten minutes or so before my labs. I feel kinda cheated.

After several days, and a lot of rest, my foot began to feel a little better. It got to a point where I could walk to my balcony, or at least limp to it, without much pain. One day I decided to take a look at the scenery surrounding me. I placed my elbow on the white railing and my cheek in my hands. 

It was actually really beautiful. Lots of lush greenery, a few tall buildings that'd be really cool to explore (if I can find a way to sneak out, that is), I could even see a bit of the coastline if I leaned out far enough. I wasn't sure where the others were. It was difficult to track where everyone was or what they were planning. But I hoped they were all out of earshot because there was a song stuck in my head. 

I didn't understand how I knew it. I didn't know where I'd seen or heard it, but it was this beautiful Latin aria, and it kept pushing at my mind until I caved. I'll be honest; I was nervous. I often got embarrassed for people to hear me sing, but I decided I had to at least give it a try. With a deep breath, I opened my mouth and let the words flow out.

 _"Os iusti_  
_meditabitur_  
_sapientiam,_  
_Et lingua eius_  
_loquetur indicium."_

I didn't quite understand what they meant, though I could pick out a few prefixes.  _Sapientiam_  was close to  _Sapio,_ having something to do with intelligence. And  _lingua_ probably had something to do with speaking or languages. 

I continued on.

 _"Beatus vir qui,_  
_suffert tentationem,_  
_Quoniam cum_  
_probates fuerit accipiet coronam vitae."_

 _Vitae?_ It sounded close to vitality, which had something to do with life. 

_"Kyrie,_ _ignis divine, eleison."_

That was one I could understand a bit. I recognized it, thanks to Concert Choir, and special props to the  _Sunrise Mass._ _Kyrie eleison_ meant something like "Lord, have mercy."  
  
_"O quam sancta,_  
_quam serena_  
_quam benigma,_  
_quam amoena_  
_O castitatis lilium."_

 _Lilium?_ Did they mean Lily? Like the flower? I didn't have time to answer this because the next thing I heard were rapid footsteps coming up the steps. Panicking, I dove back into my bed, trying to pretend I was asleep, and in the nick of time, too. The door swung open.

"What the hell was that?" Safiya gasped.  
"Mystic?"

They all seemed to notice that I was "asleep" and approached me gently. Colleen was the one to approach me, shaking me softly.

"Mystic? Mystic, honey?"

Opening my eyes, I yawned, for real though because I was constantly tired, and stare at them.

"Huh?" I groaned.

"What was that?" Penelope gaped.  
"Was that you?"

"What was?" I asked trying to feign cluelessness.

"That song."

"What song?"

"The song that was coming from the balcony," Nikita scoffed.

"What balcony?"

"Well, we assume it's that one," Envy pointed at my balcony door. 

"What about it?"

"Was that where it was coming from?" Matt asked.

"Where what was coming from?"

"The song," Ro answered.

"What song?"

"That one that we heard," Andrea Brooks replied.

"When?"

"Just a few moments ago."

"What did it sound like?"

"Beautiful," Ro sighed.

"What was beautiful?"

"The song, bitch!" Nikita groaned.

"What song?"

"The song from the fucking balcony!"

"What balcony?"

I heard a hand clap against skin. I looked over to see Candy Pop shaking his head, with his hand against his forehead. 

"You did this during the whole Horace sh-bang."

"The what?"

"When we were with Horace," Manny growled.

"Why were we with him?"

"He wanted to turn us into Wonderland characters," Tristen "reminded" me.

"Why did he want to do that?"

"I dunno cuz he was insane or something!" Erica groaned.  
"But he's right. You did it during that."

"Did what?"

"This thing," Alice told me, a little confused and I remembered that she wasn't there for it.

"What thing?"

"That stalling thing," Penelope huffed.

"What stalling thing?"

"WHAT THE FUCK YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW!" Nikita yelled.  
"Did you or did you not sing that damn song?"

"What song?"

"The really pretty song," Lauren added.

"What did it sound like?"

"Really fucking pretty," Tyler remarked.

"No, I meant like what were the lyrics?"

"I dunno. They were in another language," Gabbie told me.

"What language?"

"Latin," Alison piped up.  
"That was the Latin song that Lennan and I sang together."

"What song?"

Nikita was practically steaming, but Alison gently touched her shoulder. 

"She wasn't lucid when it happened," she reminded Nikita. 

Hearing this, the Troublemaker grumbled under her breath. 

"That was the song Lennan and I sang together just before he died."

"Really?" 

That was real confusion. I didn't remember any of that. She nodded.

"So was that you or wasn't it?" Colleen asked impatiently.

"I don't sing," I lied through my teeth.

"Bitch," Gabbie spat.  
"Yes, you do."

"You don't know that."

"You were singing  _Monster_ when Ro and I found you that one time."

"When did that happen?"

"OH MY GOD! JUST ANSWERING THE FUCKING QUESTIOOOOOOOOOONN!" Nikita shrieked enraged.  

I glanced rapidly around the room, hoping for a distraction. That was when my eyes caught sight of Envy. He and I made brief eye contact and he turned away blushing. 

_Oh God. Tell me he's not. Not me too._

I certainly hoped not. Except.......there'd been something else that I saw in that thought when he royally fucked up.

He'd seen some of me in the filter as well. 

And I remembered, when we were talking a few days ago, he had some trouble looking me in the eyes.

I covered my head up with the blanket. 

"Bitch, fess up," Nikita spat.

"Can't," I yawned.  
"I'm asleep."

"So, do we take that as a yes?" Alice piped up confused. 

"Yeah," Liza replied.  
"If she won't tell us, I guess we'll just have to make our own judgment."

"I'd like to hear it from her, though," Tana scoffed.

"Forget it," Gabbie sighed.  
"She's stubborn as fuck. Anyone hungry?"

"I am!" Liza sighed eagerly.

"I can try to barbecue something," Safiya volunteered.

"I'll help!" Ro volunteered eagerly.

"Hell, let's make it a pool party," Tana suggested excitedly.

"Can we PLEASE have booze there?" Nikita huffed.

"Sure," Tana shrugged, much to the disapproving glare of Colleen.

"YES!" Nikita clapped her hands together. 

As they all left the room, I remembered what Envy'd asked me to do.

"Hey, Alice," I called out.  
"Can I talk to you for a sec?"

She whirled around and shrugged.

"Yeah, sure, what's up?"

How was I supposed to put it? 

"So, if someone were to confess that they liked you, how would you want them to do it?"

"Easy," she shrugged.  
"I'd just want them to tell me."

I blinked in shock.

"That's it?"

"That's it. Why?"

"Just curious."

"Ooookay. You good?"

I nodded. Standing up, she turned to leave when....

"Mystic, was that actually you singing?" she pondered out of nowhere.

I could feel myself blushing.

"I......IPLEADTHEFIFTH," I blurted out quite loudly.

She giggled.

"Don't worry," she assured me.  
"I'll try not to tell the others if it's true."

Playfully I pursed my lips, folded my arms, and turned away to show that I wasn't talking.

"Fine," she shrugged with a smile.  
"They'll find out eventually. You gonna join us for the pool party?"

"Are they gonna play anime tracks?" I wondered.

"I could try to get them to."

"Then maybe," I blushed, looking away.  
"Cuz I look fat in a swimsuit."

"You're more cherubic than fat," she told me.

"You're just saying that to be nice."

"Hey, having fat means there's more of you to love. As long as you're healthy and happy, what's a little chubbiness got against you?"

I pondered this for a moment.

"You know? I've noticed something," I informed her.  
"We love it when pets and babies are chubby. Hell, we think it's downright adorable. So then why's it seen as bad when we're older?"

She put a finger to her lower lips, tilted her head, and wrinkled her lips in thought.

"Hmm. I don't think I've ever considered that before. I dunno why. Anyway, you really should come out to the pool. It's so nice out tonight."

"I'm not so sure. After that little fiasco, I feel like people are gonna badger me to sing again."

All of a sudden, she gasped.

"That's it," she whispered.

Without another word, she rushed out of the room. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (CW: Veins)
> 
> Remember the story above? It inspired this parody lyric:
> 
> "This is gonna hurt, this is gonna hurt.  
> "Beware of butterflies, they'll break your veins; your veins."
> 
> Or would skin be better? Or arms?


	7. The Planning Committee

**Alice's POV:**

It took me a while, but I finally gathered the others in a basement and locked the door. Hopefully Mystic would still be preoccupied.

"So what I'm thinking is that we should have another pool party soon, but bigger, and...."

I let it simmer for a few moments to build tension.

"With a talent show!"

They just stared at me as if I'd gone insane. 

"Huh?"

Teala sounded confused.

"Why?"

"Well, we're frustrated about her not admitting it was her singing, right?"

"I mean, a little," Joey shrugged.

"So what if we set up a talent show

"You sure that'll work?"

"Why not?" I shrugged.

"You don't remember the last time we tried to have a talent show?" 

Roi. 

"I sure as h*ll do and my foot hurts just thinking about it."

Nikita was rubbing her foot, and I wasn't sure exactly what she meant. Maybe it was something that happened when she was rushing off from when they tried to get her to go to the last talent show. 

"Then we won't put out a sign-up sheet. Everyone will just have to perform something."

"That'll take the whole night," Colleen pointed out.

"And even if it doesn't, she's gonna find a way around partaking in it," Taylor sighed.

"You know how Mystic is."

I sighed. She was right. Mystic would likely find a way around it, or worse, run off again. All of a sudden, I heard a gasp from Penelope.

"Are you still attempting to convince her to let me hypnotize her?"

I nodded.

"What if you proceed with that and then I have her be my volunteer? Then we could also get her to sing."

"And if she doesn't go up?" 

Taylor seemed to think of a way around everything. 

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Sierra assured us. 

"For now, I think we should put up a sign-up sheet. If she wants to, she can sign up. If not, we'll have Penelope choose her as the volunteer."

"Sounds pretty solid," Matt nodded.

"Except what if she runs off?"

"We station people around at certain times to make sure she doesn't," Gabbie shrugged.

"The entire time until the talent show?" Safiya questioned. 

"That's gonna be a lot of effort. Plus she'll realize something's up if we go that route."

"What if we tried to put a tracker on her?" Candy Pop asked hopefully.

"No," I snapped sternly.

"She's having trouble trusting us as it is. If we chip her, then she might never trust us again."

"Especially with a traitor in our midst," Taylor scoffed. 

Oh yeah. That little detail was still there. 

"Can we maybe NOT bring up the traitor?" Bailey groaned.

"We're here to relax, so we might as well."

"But we still don't know how to make sure Mystic doesn't run off," Sasha pointed out.

"How the h*ll would she be able to run off? She's on a chain of islands. Chances are we'd be able to find her. Now I think we should get started on that pool party."

Everyone else got up and proceeded towards the backyard. Reluctantly I followed suit, but also couldn't help but wonder. 

Who WAS the traitor?


	8. Into the Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mystic sneaks out and possibly finds some trouble.
> 
> (CW: Snakes, body modification (sort of))

As I pondered over whether or not to go to the pool party, I had a pretty bad feeling about it. I wasn't sure why, but I felt as though someone was plotting against me. I knew I had to try trusting others, but there was still a traitor amongst us. They could stab us in the back at any time, maybe even literally. 

I glanced out the window to see an Aztec-style pyramid. Huh. That looked......intriguing. I knew that I shouldn't, but wasn't it better to have more "oh wells" than "what ifs"? 

Grabbing the tea stones, and sneaking out of my room, I crept downstairs, out the front door, and around the side. I could hear music and grilling. 

"Isn't Mystic gonna be here?" Joey asked.

"She said she might. Should we check on her?"

Alice, don't you dare.

"Probably not, we should let her take her time."

Thank God for being so nice, Joey. 

I took out a teastone and pictured the top of the pyramid.

"I wish I was at the pyramid I saw from my window."

A flash of gold and then I appeared in front of it. Two flames sandwiched the entrance. I peeked further inside, pitch black. 

"Maybe now would be a good time to try some of that magic that laser beams gave me."

A stick sat on the ground nearby. I went to pick it up when it began to slither away. I immediately backed the fuck up. 

"Pleassssse don't disssssturb me," it hissed as it sat up forming a hood.

"Sorry," I whimpered.  
"I just need to get in here."

"You're messsssing with a dangeroussssss game, my dear."

"But I'm curious."

"Ah. Sssssuch famoussssss lasssssst wordssssss," it chuckled.

"Who are you anyway?"

"I am one of the protectorsssss of thissssss temple. I'm sssssstationed here to keep prying handssssss away, onessssss ssssssuch assssss yourssssss."

"What? Oh no. I don't plan on stealing anything. I don't even know what's in there. I just wanna see what's inside."

Then I realized something.

"One of the protectors? What about the others?"

"I'm the other one," a gentle voice exclaimed.

From the shadows emerged a girl with ears, a muzzle, and a tail. But aside from those, she looked familiar.

"Chiaki?" I exclaimed.  
"Wait. AI or real?"

"Real?" she asked, her face contorting into confusion.  
"I went inside and accidentally put my hand on one of the relics. A statue of Anubis. That's why I look like this."

"And you?" I asked turning to the cobra.

"I was a curioussssss young lad, but I went inside and my hand fell on a picture of Wadjet, the cobra goddessssss. Onccccccce a female touchesssss the sssssame picture, she and I shall be bonded for eternity and Missssss ChiAnubisssssssss shall be here waiting for her Princccccce Charming."

"But why are you transformed all the way and Chiaki isn't?"

"I was transformed more recently than he was," she sighed. 

"Is there any way to undo the curse?" I asked.

She thought about this for a moment.

"It's likely too late for him, but it might not be too late for me. There's an antidote inside the temple. I can go with you and show you where it is. Cordjet, would you be okay holding down the fort for a while?"

"If I musssssst," he sighed.

"Cordjet?" I wondered as Chiaki, or ChiAnubis, conjured a staff with a jackal head.

"Once we begin our transformation, our names are changed in some way to signify that we are property of that god for eternity or until the curse is lifted. His name used to be Corbin."

She tapped the ground a few times with her staff and the jackal head lit up. Pointing it inside, it lit up several torches ahead of us.

"Are you ready?" she asked me.

I shrugged.

"I guess."

And in we went.

 

 

 


	9. Round and round and round it goes!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The others go to check on Mystic, Envy becomes Mr. Montague Navarro briefly, someone comes back, and a new challenger arrives.

**Penelope's POV:**

Everything was going rather well, dinner was being cooked on the grill, people were swimming, music was playing, and yet, we were still missing something. Or rather someone.

"Where's Mystic?" Alice whispered to me.  
"It's been like an hour."

"I suppose she's still getting ready," I lied.

I had had a feeling that she'd run off to somewhere like she always did, but I thought she knew we cared. So if she did, it was likely an exploration of sorts. But knowing her, it was likely to lead her to trouble. 

"I don't know what you're all so worried about," Tana scoffed as she floated on a luxurious pool raft.  
"Just let the girl do what she wants on occasion. If she doesn't wanna come to the party, then she doesn't wanna come to the party."

"Yeah, but this is Mystic we're talking about," Rene reminded us as she filed down her nails a bit before holding them out to Safiya to paint them.  
"She's bound to have gotten herself stuck in some sort of trap or something."

"I mean, she's not wrong," Matt remarked suddenly.  
"I've been doing a little research on this place. It's a chain of islands connected to one another. They call it Jabberwock Island."

I giggled a little sadly. Horace would've loved to hear that.

"But not only that. On one of these islands is what's called the temple of the Collector. Whoever this Collector is, he seems to have either manifested or stolen certain relics linked to certain mythological deities. When someone touches one, they become the property of the relating deity."

"Then maybe it wouldn't hurt to check," Liza suggested as she helped to man the vegetable and meat skewers on the grill.

"I'll go check," Joey volunteered.

"I'll go with you," Nikita announced rather loudly.

"I think I should go with you both," Rosanna added.

And off they went.

* * *

  **Envy's POV:**

After they went off, I decided that now was a good time to try to confess. My heart felt a-flutter as I stared at Alice from a-far. But at the same time, my mind also was stuck on Mystic. The Cursed God was right. She DID have some sort of innocence about her, just not in a way one might think. But whenever I was around her, Alice was the one my mind was stuck on. She too had an air of innocence. Both of them had this sweet and adorable sense of idealism, I was caught in a carousel of desire. It reminded me of a verse in a song where a man is caught between two women. But I'd thought of the lyrics in a parody more fitting to my situation.

 _Isn't this madness, who could foresee,_  
_how one trick of timing could ruin it all._  
_One in her bedroom, one in the backyard,_  
_nothing between them but me and a wall._  
_See, there's Mystic, noble and pious, my esteem for her only grows,_  
_but when I am with Mystic, my heart's a-flutter, thinking of_  
_dear Alice, full of such wonder, sweetness, and dare I say it, love._  
_But when I'm with dear Alice, whom do I admire, none but_  
_Mystic, dreamy and lovely, who couldn't love her, heaven knows._  
_Round and round and round it goes!_

I had begun to second-guess myself, for some strange reason. I was so sure that I loved Alice, but Mystic was full of surprises and that made her all the more intriguing, and frankly, all the more lovely. But I had to stay strong. I decided that I had to make up my mind, so I chose Alice, as I'd known her the longest.

Taking a deep breath, I marched up to her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Alice, I need to talk to you."

"Is this about the thing you were trying to say last time?"

I nodded.

"Well, are you going to say it or are you going to be convoluted about it?"

"N-no," I stammered as she tilted her head ever so innocently.   
"I'll.......just say it."

I took a deep breath, and then I tried to say it. But the words were stuck in my mind. Like a traffic jam. I tried to mentally push them to my mouth.

_Say it, you absolute dolt! Just come out and tell her how you feel!_

I opened my mouth and simply began blabbering like an idiot, until I had to manually shut myself up. Alice couldn't help but giggle, and you should have been there to hear it; it was so lovely and musical, like wind chimes on a slightly-breezy spring morning.

"Cat's got your tongue?" she giggled.

I could feel myself blushing, but soon recomposed myself. Taking a deep breath, I prepared myself before opening my mouth.

"Alice, I must confess that I---"

"WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HER, SHE'S SO DEAD!"

Nikita's shrill yell interrupted me, and startled everyone. Tana practically flipped off of her raft thing into the pool. Rene's hands jerked forward, launching some of the nail polish off of her nails, nearly hitting Safiya. Liza almost dropped the plate of skewers she was carrying over to the buffet table. 

"Who's dead?" Sierra gasped alarmed.

"Mystic's not in her room," Joey informed us.

This seemed to set alarm bells off in Alice's head and she began to run off. 

"Alice, wait!" I called out, stretching out my hand.  
"I haven't told you---!"

"You can tell me later," she tried to assure me. 

But I wasn't so sure. Would I still have this fluttery feeling for her still or would it switch back to Mystic? I didn't know, and I didn't like not knowing.

Gulping I tried to follow the others inside and into the living room, where they seemed to be forming some sort of strategy or something.

"Where the hell could she have gone?" Destorm wondered as Matt brought up a large book on Jabberwock Island and laid it out onto the coffee table, opening it to a map.

From out of nowhere, something on the map seemed to have caught his eye.

"Look," he indicated, pointing at what looked at an Aztec temple/pyramid, before turning to Matt.  
"Is this what you were talking about earlier, when you mentioned the Collector?"

Matt glanced over his shoulder and nodded.

"That's it."

"Do you think she could be there?" Lauren wondered.

"Knowing Mystic," Safiya exclaimed, wiping off the nail polish that had splattered onto her hand when Nikita so gracefully informed of us of Mystic's absence.  
"She's likely there."

"Now that I think about it," Ro pondered.  
"There's a temple that looks a lot like the one on that map. I saw it when I caught a glance out of her window."

"Yeah, she's definitely there," Andrea R chuckled. 

All of a sudden, there was a power surge; the blinds snapped shut, and the lights went off, leaving us in total darkness.

"What's going on?" Justine yelled out.

"I don't know, but I feel weird," Alex piped up.

"So do I," a familiar voice emerged.

When the lights came back on, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Until I saw some of their clothes. 

"Ro?" I stammered as I saw her black-and-white polka-dotted dress.  
"What are you wearing?"

She glanced down at her hands, covered in white gloves, flipping them over. Before she could reply, I heard a scream from Andrea Brooks.

"Tim!" she squealed.  
"You're alive!"

We all whirled our heads and, sure enough, there he was; Mr. Timothy DeLaGhetto. No longer dressed as a mobster, however. He had on a sort of dark brown coat with white four-point star patterns, a red and patterned ascot, and a teal shirt. 

"What?" Gabbie stammered as she twirled in her new outfit, certainly not fit for exploring, but definitely for a red carpet event.  
"How?"

"I think I can answer that," a new voice piped up.

He emerged wearing a yellow jacket, dark pants, and a dark shirt that was unbuttoned in a deep V. 

"Bretman!" Nikita squealed in delight.  
"What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Jael, do you wanna explain it to them?" he asked.

We all whirled around and Jael looked a little sheepish.

"I may have forgotten to update you all on the events of the real world," she replied, trying to maintain her composure.  
"They're making an All-Star season starring some of you who have died. As a twist, Joey invited Mr. Bretman Rock to partake as the Playboy."

"So then, why's Tim here?" Tana replied as she looked at herself in a nearby mirror. She looked like a cowgirl.  
"And how the hell is it All-Stars if Bretman's in this? He's never been in one of these death games."

"Because one, fuck you. And two, he was picked to be one of the contestants," Bretman informed us.  
"Meaning he has the opportunity to come back to life. However there's a small problem."

"Is it actually a small problem?" Penelope furrowed her brow in disbelief and concern.

"No, bitch, far from it," he sighed.  
"The problem is that his spirit is connected to his character's lifeline, meaning if he dies in the show, he dies in this world as well."


	10. Trust and Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I've been getting remarks on this AU for a few months now. And I'd like to respond.  
> First off, no one is under any obligation to read what someone writes. If you want to leave this AU, then fine. If you want to stick through it, then great. I get that it's been going on for a while, but there are reasons for it. And one of them is point 2.  
> To be honest, this AU has become a way for me to work through insecurities and issues I'm struggling with. Trust, feeling trapped, fear of being hurt, etc,. those are all things I'm working through, and this AU has become rather therapeutic. And who knows? It may help someone else going through similar struggles.  
> Don't get me wrong. The AU will likely have to come to an end eventually. But I'M going to decide when that is. I'm not going to force you to stick with it. Whether or not you want to is completely up to you, but this helps me and I look forward to writing more of it.  
> And finally, the same is true for you. If you're writing something and it makes you happy or brings some sort of benefit to your emotional or mental health, I don't see why you shouldn't be able to keep writing it.  
> Ok, love you. ♡♡

As we went deeper in, I couldn't help but wonder so much.

"Wait, if this antidote is inside of the temple, then why did you never go inside to get it?"

"I had my chance. I was trying to help Cordjet, but then..."

She gestured to herself.

"This happened."

"And how are you able to go inside now?"

She shrugged.

"Master Anubis must not mind me leading you through."

"Okay. What do you mean by property? Can they possess you or....?"

I trailed off.

"Well, technically yes," ChiAnubis sighed.  
"If they choose, the one you belong to is able to take control of your mind and/or body whenever they wish."

"Has he.......ever done that to you?"

She bowed her head.

"A few times. Mostly if I ever tried to run away, though. Once, for a whole day, he overflowed my mind with euphoria while focusing my mind on him. I suppose it was a sort of.....operant conditioning."

"Did it work?"

"Yes," she replied sadly.  
"At least for a while. Since he hasn't done it for some time, it's been wearing off a bit."

"So, what relics are there and what Gods or Goddesses do they belong to?" I wondered.

"Well," ChiAnubis thought.  
"There's a statue of Anubis, of course, an engraving or picture of Wadjet, the cobra goddess, there's a sarcophagus symbolizing Osiris, the god of Death, a golden pomegranate belonging to Persephone, a gemstone belonging to Hades, a trident belonging to Poseidon, a jester hat belonging to Loki, and while not particularly a god, a scale belonging to the lindorm king, just to name a few."

"So even if you just TOUCH one of these, you're screwed?"

She nodded. All of a sudden, she held her hand out to stop me and whirled me to face her. 

"How do I know I can trust you?"

Her voice was calm, but there was an air of threat in it. I knew I had to prove to my trust to this girl, even if she did look like a female anime version of Anubis.

"Ask me anything," I told her.  
"And I'll tell you."

She gave this some thought.

"What's your name?"

"Mystic."

"Not your talent, your name."

"In this world, that IS my name."

She simply blinked at me.

"You're.....not of this world?"

I shook my head ruefully.

"Anything else you want to know? I'll answer anything. If you wanna test me on anything, go ahead."

She pondered over this. However I had a feeling about the questions she was going to ask me, knowing Chiaki.

"Okay," she replied.  
"You have 30 seconds to name as many  _Legend of Zelda_ games as you can. Go!"

I wracked my brain for my obscure knowledge of the franchise. I'd really only ever played one of them, so I decided I'd start with that.

"Twilight Princess, Majora's Mask, Ocarina of Time, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, Breath of the Wild, Legend of Zelda, Skyward Sword, Wind Waker---"

"Time. Hmmmm...nine titles. Not too bad. How many of them have you played?"

I blushed sheepishly. 

"Just one, and I haven't finished it."

"Which one?"

"Twilight Princess."

"Okay, name as many dungeons/temples as you can from that game in 30 seconds. Go!"

I was taken aback, but tried to regain my composure.

"Forest Temple, Lakebed Temple, Arbiter's Grounds, Temple of Time, the Goron Mines, Snowpeak Ruins, Temple in the Sky---"

"Time. 6 and a half."

"6 and a half?" I exclaimed in disbelief.

"It's  _City in the Sky,_ not Temple."

"I haven't played that far."

"Okay, name 3 games that this temple reminds you of. No time limit."

I took a look around. One game immediately popped into my head, one that terrified pretty much every kid growing up in the 00s who played it.

" _Laffy Taffy 3D Pyramid_ would definitely be one."

Those whangdoodles were likely the first ever jumpscares any of us Generation Zers came across, probably worse than any jumpscare in the FNAF franchise because running into one of them wouldn't automatically end the game. It'd just deplete your energy, so you could experience multiple jumpscares in a single playthrough. And as far as I could remember, they never had a set course, at least one that any of us could figure out, so they could take you by surprise from right around the corner.

"Would you could Arbiter's Grounds even though it's a temple in a game."

"Sure," she shrugged.  
"Why not? And your third?"

"I would assume this is also a temple Lara Croft would go through."

"In what game?"

I had to dig back into my trove of obscure knowledge. I looked it up when writing once. 

" _Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris._ I've never played it, though."

"You'll definitely find Osiris in here."

"Why are you asking me all of these questions?"

She considered this for a moment.

"Does the phrase 'Little Orphan Annie' ring a bell?"

My stomach churned.

"Yes, unfortunately. But how did you here about that?"

She sighed, as if releasing the spirit of an eternity of guilt.

"I've been speaking with the Cursed God."

I came to a stop.

"He promised that I could get Monomi back if I brought you back to him."

"He was the cause of why you look like this, isn't he?"

She nodded.

"Well, indirectly, yes. He told me that there was a gemstone inside of this temple that he thought you would like. He told me that since I've probably gone through a lot of temples in video games that I could apply my skills and get it for you. But even if I had, I would assume that he meant the gemstone belonging to Hades. If I'd touched it, I'd have become the property of Hades. I don't know if he knew that that would happen."

"Wait. So does that mean.......he's nearby?"

Another regretful nod.

"Did you......have another dream about him, by chance?"

I blinked in astonishment.

"How.....did you---?"

"I learned that those dreams only happen when he tries to summon you, and I learned that you had had another one earlier on. Clearly he failed. Part of the reason he failed this time is because of the Future Foundation's protective barriers. Another part of it is your resistance. I take it you struggled against him."

"Of course."

"If you hadn't, you likely wouldn't have woken up. Your body would've either disintegrated entirely or reappeared at his location. Either way, he would've had you had you not resisted."

I shrugged and kept going, when I realized something.

"You said you were helping Corbin, right?"

She nodded.

"But the Cursed God also sent you to get the gemstone. Are you using perjury?"

Her eyes widened.

"How do you---?"

"Because if you're an AI, then you know the DR mechanics from any of the games."

"I swear, I'm not."

I glared at her in disbelief.

"Sure."

"I swear. I don't want to bring you to him if you don't want to be around him."

"How do I know you're not a traitor again?"

"You can ask me anything you want about the Cursed God and his crew. I've overheard some of their conversations."

ANYTHING? This is.....huge. If Chiaki can get us some info, then we'd save ourselves a lot of time.

"Okay," I sighed as we continued walking.  
"So I don't know if you know or not, but there's a traitor amongst our group who's spying for the Cursed God. Who are they?"

I could tell Chiaki was wracking her brain. 

"Well, I might be wrong, but I think I heard that their name begins with an M, a Y, an S, a T, an I, or a C."

"That's just the letters in my name."

"Okay, I'll tell you. I know it starts with either an A, a B, an E, a D a P, a C, an H, an N, an I, an R, an S, or a T. They kept bringing up multiple names, so I wasn't sure who it was exactly."

"Whose names did you hear?"

"Are you sure you want to know?"

I nodded vigorously and she sighed heavily.

"I heard the names Alice, Bailey, Envy, Erica, Dooper, Penelope, Candy Pop, Ciel, Hazel, Nora, Ines, Rene, Sasha, Stella, Tristen, and Taylor."


	11. Pandora's Box

**Mystic's POV:**

I couldn't believe the sheer number of names. And a lot of them were people I trusted. Could she have heard wrong? Maybe it was just to scare her?

"Are you sure that's who you heard?" I whimpered.

Bowing her head, she nodded.

"All of those names. Of course they didn't know I was listening."

"How?"

"After Monomi and I escaped Enoshima's death trap, the Cursed God was waiting at the exit. After he had Haruko and Kira take Monomi away, he put me in a sort of hypnotic trance, and he thought I wouldn't hear anything."

She turned away from me, rubbing her arm. 

"But even though I could still hear him, it didn't make me invincible to his will. He ordered me to get that gemstone for you. He said he wanted to make it into a ring, and I couldn't stop myself from obeying him."

"Did you get it?"

Shamefully, she nodded.

"It was after I was cursed by the Anubis statue that I returned it to him. He made me bow to him when presenting it to him and call him my master."

She shivered at the mere thought.

"I was under that trance for who-knows-how-long. He would make me do various tasks, from standing still and blank at his throne holding a bowl of grapes for hours, feeding him one at the mere snap of his fingers, to.........more shameful things. Nothing directly sexual, of course. But he would make me put on various.....outfits and dance for him sometimes. He told me that because I escaped the death trap, that perhaps I was worthy of working for him, in spite of my betrayal. He told me if I stayed loyal to him that Monomi would be safe."

"How did you get out of that trance?"

"It was when the curse of Anubis kicked in. When the curse begins to show, it removes any other spells or curses cast on the afflicted."

"Does he know where you are now?"

"He knows I'm here. I've had to act as though I'm still under his spell. He thinks I'm taking several days stealing all of those relics, which he told me to do."

"Why did he say that?"

"He said he wants them to be your.......wedding gifts."

I shivered at the mere thought when suddenly, ChiAnubis held out her arm to stop me.

"This is the first room."

Scanning around, there were close to a hundred different artifacts.

"And these are all from different gods and goddesses?"

She nodded.

"Watch your step," she warned me.

We took a step on the first tile. The room began to shake. Another step and it shook even more. After a few more steps, I was thrown violently to the right, giving a scream and nearly slapping my hand on a vase with lightning bolts carved into it. Either Zeus or Thor.

"What just happened?" I gasped still shaken by the events.

"The room tilts with each step," she groaned as she pulled herself away from a wall that the side of her face had hit before rubbing the spot with her hand.  
"I guess it's sort of a security mechanism."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"So basically I have a 99% chance of becoming a servant to a deity?"

"Not necessarily," ChiAnubis assured me.  
"You could become their bride."

"Oh great," I groaned.  
"Just what I needed."

"Sorry," she bleated shamefully.  
"I just wanted to give you some sort of hope."

"How would I even know if I was a servant or bride?"

She shrugged.

"You don't, not until the transformation is complete, at least that's what Cordjet said. He says he's likely going to be a soldier in her army, that is if a girl doesn't touch the same relic that he did."

I tried to take a few more steps, the room still tilting, my hands nearly avoiding relic-after-relic. As I did, I noticed something. ChiAnubis was able to put her hands on other relics, and was willing to do so.

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"For you, it is," she clarified.  
"But I'm already claimed by a deity. Once you've touched a relic, you're bonded to that deity, and only that deity, for eternity, or until they set you free. So I can touch the other relics without becoming afflicted."

"How many rooms of relics are there?"

She paused a moment to think.

"I believe seven."

"Screw that," I groaned as I reached into my bag.

As I pulled out a teastone, ChiAnubis looked on in awe.

"What's that?" she wondered.

"I'll tell you later. I wish we were at the area of the temple where the antidote is."

A golden light broke through the crack, but was soon overtaken by a dark purple light, and a demonic laugh erupted. The temple began shaking.

"What's going on?" ChiAnubis panicked.

"You tell me!" I exclaimed as purple smoke surrounded us.

We were spun around. I felt as though I was on a violently-spinning tea-cup ride or a tilt-a-whirl ride. After some time, the smoke dissipated and I tried to reorientate myself.

"Are you okay?" ChiAnubis asked me.

I held out my hand as I stumbled and she took ahold of it. 

"Still a bit dizzy. But better."

Once I had re-centered myself, I looked around in astonishment.

"Wow," I whistled.  
"Look at all of the jewels. Are they relics as well?"

"No," she replied.  
"But the Cursed God wants me to steal those as well. He told me he wants them to add to the shrine."

Shrine? Part of me knew better than to ask, but another part of me was extremely curious. The former eventually won out.

"Shrine?"

"Mm-hmm. He's been working on a shrine to you."

A cold shiver ran through my spine, and yet I felt myself want to dive further.

"What's on the shrine?"

"Not much," ChiAnubis shrugged.  
"Mostly candles and flowers, but there's also a wardrobe with shelves inside of it. It has a lot of stuff in it, including what I assume to be your baby pictures and a couple vials of blood with your name on them."

I was on the verge of being sick. Why was this guy so obsessed with me?!? I knew it had something to do with this Waverly chick, but I wasn't even close to knowing who SHE was.

All of a sudden, my eye caught sight of a bejeweled box sitting on a purple throne. 

"What's this?" I wondered as I walked over to it.

ChiAnubis came up behind me.

"Looks like a jewelry box."

"Should I........should I open it?"

She shook her head.

"I don't think we should. It could only bring more trouble. Look."

She whirled me around gently and pointed at a glass case with several vials of blue liquid in them.

"There are the antidotes. Let's just grab them and go."

We approached the glass, only to find a note on top of the glass cube.

" _Want to retrieve these antidotes? Open the box on the throne to find out how,"_ ChiAnubis read aloud before sighing.  
"I guess we don't have a choice."

We cautiously tip-toed over to the throne. Hands trembling I picked up the box. 

"Maybe my name should be Pandora," I commented as I undid the lock.

"Why?" 

As soon as I lifted the lid, the same purple smoke that had sent me and ChiAnubis here snaked out of the box.

"Because I always seem to let trouble loose," I gulped.

And trouble it was. The smoke spiraled into a tall column before dissipating into ash. Inside of it was a tall, dark, kind of handsome, but scary, man. One that was incredibly similar to the Cursed God. 


	12. No Touch!

** Gabbie’s POV: **

“Wait,” Justine exclaimed.  
“So if he dies in the show, he dies for real?”

“I’m afraid so,” Jael sighed.

In spite of this, Tim looked rather…….unphased.

“You’re not freaking out?” Andrea Brooks wondered.

“I’m freaking out on the inside,” he replied.

“Okay, this is all well and good that you’re back,” Nikita interrupted.  
“But we have to find and get that bitch back.”

“Who?” Bretman puzzled.

Jael pulled out what kind of looked like a Pokedex and flipped it open. Then this weird hologram shit burst out of it and it was all of our faces, and she was just flipping through it like it was no big deal.

“What the fuck is that?” I spattered.

“This is our registrar and directory,” she informed us as she continued to scroll through it.  
“It tells us almost everything you want to know about any of you. Here we are.”

She tapped Mystic’s picture and a whole other screen popped up.

“She’s the one I told you about, Bretman,” Jael explained as she tapped on a section titled _Profile Summary._

“ETNMystic, age 20, and the accidental catalyst of this chaos.”

“How did that bitch accidentally let a Cursed God into the fandom?” he wondered in disbelief.

“The Cursed God promised to help make her writing more real. Her agreement was enough to let him worm his way in, possess her, and write himself into a chapter of a fic.”

“So where is she now?”

“Yeah, I thought she was still in that _Nutcracker_ nightmare realm,” Tim added.  
“So why isn’t she here?”

“We believe that she may be in the temple located on the center island,” Ryu replied.  
“It’s an exceptionally dangerous area for her to be in. If she accidentally touches any of the relics, she’ll become property of another deity. Then THEY could use her to let down the barrier. And fate forbid she meet the Collector.”

“Who exactly is the Collector?” Tana wondered.

“Why is he so bad?”

“He’s the younger brother of the Cursed God,” Katsumi pointed out.

“So her meeting him is already asking for trouble. However what’s even worse is that he has those relics. The reason he does is that he was gifted with the ability to befriend deities from all mythologies, and so they have given them to him for that and another reason. They are extremely powerful relics, able to take control of even the most strong-willed and powerful individuals. And if the Collector senses potential in another individual, he may arrange the temple interior so that the victim falls prey to touching the relic of a deity he sees fit for them to fall under the control of.

“We’ve recently heard rumors of an individual who has fallen prey to the control of Anubis, the Egyptian God of death. She is believed to have sprouted angel wings, which contain white feathers. Mr. Patrick, I assume you may find some significance in that.”

“Of course,” Matt exclaimed excitedly.

“Anubis is also the guardian of the scales. After someone dies, legend says that he would weigh their heart against the weight of a feather, which represents truth, to determine their fate. If the scale tipped towards the feather, he would lead them to Osiris, who ruled over what the Egyptians called ‘the living ones,’ or the blessed dead. If the scale tipped towards the heart, the soul would be devoured by the one whom the Ancient Egyptians dubbed the ‘devourer of the dead,’ a female demon named Ammit. So if one were to have feather wings, the Collector would likely see them as valuable to Anubis and make it so that they would end up touching the relic of Anubis!”

We stared at him in disbelief for a good, maybe, thirty seconds.

“How do you know all of this?” Andrea R. asked.

I was wondering the same thing.

“I like to research these things some times,” he shrugged.

“Is there a deity that can tell if someone is psychic?” I wondered.  
“Because I’m pretty sure I’m a full-blown medium at this point.”

“None that I can think of,” Jael answered.   
“Though if we are to go to this temple, a few of you should take precautions. There are a few relics certain people here must avoid at all costs.”

First she turned to Penelope.

“There is a small staff with what looks to be a target on top of it in the fourth room. That is the relic of Hypnos.”

Then to Matt and Safiya.

“There is a Greek war helm in the second room, that is the relic of Athena.”

Then she turned to….me?

“In the third room is a golden lyre belonging to Apollo. That also goes for Colleen and Ro as well. Speaking of….”

She turned to Ro.

“In the fifth chamber is a golden pomegranate belonging to Persephone, and in the first is a golden star belonging to Astrea. For any of you beauty gurus…”

Nikita, Manny, and Sierra, just to name, a few raised their hands.

“There is a golden girdle belonging to Aphrodite in the fourth.”

“Is there a goddess of getting back at a bitch?” Nikita wondered.

“A golden scale in the second room, and a marble raven statue in the fourth room. Nemesis and Hecate, respectively.”

Then she turned to Alice.

“Avoid the stone mask with stone wings in the seventh chamber. That is the relic of Morpheus.”

Candy Pop was next.

“Golden shoes with wings in the seventh chamber and a jester hat in the third chamber. Belonging to Hermes and Loki respectively.”

Then she turned to all of us.

“All of the relics should be avoided; however, if you must touch one, DO NOT touch one that belongs to a deity that matches you, especially the ones I listed. And if you are a lover of theatre, sex, parties, and/or wine, I beg of you, PLEASE DO NOT go anywhere near the golden theatre masks in the fifth room.”

“Um, honey, you listed a good majority of us,” Nikita scoffed.

“And Gabrielle, please DO NOT fondle the statue of Anubis this time.”

I blinked in confusion. THIS time?

“When the ever-loving fuck would I do that?”

“Your season 4 trailer,” Bretman replied bluntly.

“Do we want to know?” Envy questioned.

“Likely not,” Jael finished.

“Oh, and Envy, there’s a bowl of wheat belonging to Demeter in the first room. DO NOT touch it. Are we all clear on this?”

We didn’t respond right away. Instead we kinda just stared at each other before we nodded our heads.

“Good. Then let’s be on our way.”

As we headed out the door, I heard Nikita whispering to Manny.

“Okay, I low-key wanna touch one of these relics.”

“Don’t you mean…..Loki?” Candy Pop smirked.

Hearing this, Nikita turned around and gave him a glare of being done with his bullshit.

“Maybe you should get a sense of humor, lady,” he scoffed.

“And maybe _you_ should shut the hell up,” she groaned before we headed out, trekking around the house, heading our way over to the center island.


	13. Astrea in the Desert

As we saw this man sitting on the purple throne in front of us, ChiAnubis and I had no clue what to do. My first instinct was to run, but we still needed those antidotes. Plus, whoever this dude was seemed to sense that I wanted to leave because with the snap of his fingers, the door behind us slammed down, leaving us in darkness. Out of nowhere, we heard the sound of clanging metal before we felt clasps on our wrists and ankles, as well as many rings around my fingers. I was pulled back and up into a relatively soft chair where I felt my wrists being restrained to the arms and my ankles to the legs. Another snap of the fingers and I felt smoke surround my body.

There was a strange sensation in my hair and the top of my head. Something was being place on top of it. And I couldn’t feel my normal clothes. Instead I felt a thin, soft and long material. Next my arms began to feel more weighed down as a ton of unknown some things wrapped around them. My tennis shoes were also being replaced with what felt like leather sandals. I also felt a heavy necklace placed around my neck.

Finally, I felt a variety of oils and creams being lathered on my skin, a strange powder being placed on my eyes, lips, and general skin, and finally some sort of paint on the edges of my eyelids.

“What’s going on?” I stammered, shaking, causing tiny jingles to come from somewhere nearby.

“My apologies, dear ladies,” his voice sounded seductive, even hypnotic, but mostly dark and foreboding, and right above me.

Then another snap of the fingers and, two by two, torches lit up to reveal that ChiAnubis and I were bound in chains, her kneeling down by my side in a modest white linen dress with a matching necklace made of beads. Meanwhile I felt so overdressed in a temple. I tried to stand up, but once again, I was still stuck to the chair, and soon I felt a hand nearby. But suddenly it stopped.

“May I?” the voice asked.

I glanced anxiously to my right and there was the man from the box.

“I’m sorry. What?” I replied in confusion.

“It’s just…….your hair….” He gasped in awe.  
“It’s truly a work of art. I simply must feel it, but only if it’s alright with you.”

“Go ahead,” I shrugged with a sigh.

He reached his hand out and began to stroke my hair, gasping a little too passionately.

“It’s so soft and beautiful,” he whispered before he glanced down at my hands.  
“Oh, do you mind?”

"No, go ahead," I shook my head and he gently took ahold of my hand, petting it softly.

“Oh,” he cried quietly.  
“How pure and lovely it is to feel a maiden’s soft touch.”

Blushing slightly, I glanced at ChiAnubis.

“You’re not uncomfortable with this?” she asked me.

I shrugged.

“I mean, it’s an improvement to how the Cursed God treats me.”

“Ah,” the man gasped as if an idea struck him.   
“I knew there was a reason why you seemed familiar.”

“You know the Cursed God?” I exclaimed.

“Know him? I’m his younger brother.”

Younger brother?

“Wait……it’s not just him?”

“Of course not. At least objectively. But he was the favorite amongst my family. Mother and father always admired him because he…….well, he was rather neutral for most of his life, whereas I immediately chose to take a grey area of morality. Mother and father wanted me to have either been good or evil. But out of spite against them, I chose the path that would make me happiest. But they were not happy, so subjectively, I don’t exist to them. Instead I exist here within my own temple of relics, from which, if I touch one, I can contact, summon, or travel to the location of the respective deity.”

“How…..interesting,” I commented.

“Yes, indeed,” he agreed before his tone shifted to one of despondency.  
“But there’s a price to pay with all of this; my brother has an army at the ready. He has plenty of people he can spend time with. And yet, in general, I have no one. No one to keep me company and no one for me to love. After my family disowned me, I have been here alone with no one to love me and no one for me to love.”

In spite of him holding me captive (and at this point I felt my dress, hair, and makeup change from Egyptian linen to a sort of Celtic-fairy fantasy look, while ChiAnubis looked like a combination of a jackal and an elf maid), I couldn’t help but feel his loneliness. He and I were both outcasts. We both felt lonely. Maybe I could help him.

“Perhaps we…….could help you feel less lonely,” I suggested softly.

“What?” ChiAnubis whispered in alarm.

“You’d do that, for me?” he gasped happily.

I nodded to him and the chains on me dissipated.

“Absolutely.”

“Then give me your hands.”

I did so. On one hand, he slipped on a ring with an emerald gemstone, and in the other hand, he placed a golden star.

“What is it?” I asked, my voice becoming softer, airier, and much more gentle.

“It’s the relic of Astrea,” he told me softly

Hearing this, I began to panic. I looked up at him, my eyes growing wide in fear. Shaking my head, I attempted to escape, but he sensed my intention and snapped his fingers. My body froze right where I sat; no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t move at all. Seeing my fear, he gave a half-endeared and half-malicious chuckle.

“I had hoped that would be the one you would’ve touched,” he told me as he began to stroke my face.  
“And yet you managed to avoid them all. I will admit, I was rather impressed with your little attempt. No one’s ever tried to wish themselves to the antidotes.”

Even though I couldn’t move, tears still fell from my face. He gently wiped them away.

“Come now, sweet bride, please don’t cry. Not on our wedding day.”

“Why are you doing this?” ChiAnubis asked.

“Because my brother has everything,” he growled as my mind began to succumb to the relic, my fear being replaced with trust, my anger being replaced by sweetness, and my desire to run away turning to affection for him.  
“An army, many castles, power over so much. But I intend to have the one thing he still has yet to achieve, a bride, and especially one with magic.”

“Why with magic?”

“Isn’t it obvious, Miss Angel?”

“H-how did you---?”

“Did you really think I couldn’t see your wings? An innocent bride with magic will not only bring that barrier down, but the deities I have befriended can then go into reality and take as many as possible to serve or to be wed to them.”

I glanced up at him, smiling tenderly. The chains dissipated and I enveloped him in a hug.

“Oh, to be loved by a fair maiden,” he sighed happily.  
“This must be what a mother’s love is like, only more pure and innocent. Come, dear. Come lie upon my lap. You have no need to be afraid of me.”

“I’m not afraid of you, my love,” I giggled as I gave him an innocent kiss on the cheek before jumping off of my throne and hopping up onto his lap, cuddling up close.

“Is it alright if I take a nap, dearest?” I asked him.

“Of course, my angel,” he coaxed me.  
“After all, I want you to feel refreshed for our wedding tonight.”

Hearing this, I perked up.

“Oh, can’t we get married now? Pretty please?” I begged sweetly.

“Patience, my sweet,” he told me.

“It’ll be time for the wedding soon enough. Now sleep and dream of happy things, like rainbows, fairies, puppy dogs, kittens, bunnies, and unicorns.”

I felt his gentle, but strong, arms wrap around me. I felt so safe and happy as I closed my eyes. With his other hand, he began to pet me and I smiled as I settled in for a little nap. The last thing I saw before I shut my eyes was a group of people who looked vaguely familiar opening the door to the throne room and hearing someone yell in the distance “Mystic!”


	14. Butterflies and Pack Mules

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor Chiaki. The things she's gotta go through to get info.

** Gabbie’s POV: **

The Society had prepared us for what was about to go down as we had entered the temple. They had prepared us for avoiding certain relics, but I don’t think ANYONE was prepared to see Mystic looking like this. And she kept switching back and forth between Egyptian and Celtic-looking clothes.

“What the hell did you do to her?” Nikita snapped.

All of a sudden, something fell from her hand. Ro, being curious, went to pick it up.

“DON’T!” Calliope yelled.  
“That’s the relic of Astrea, the goddess of purity and innocence.”

Ro backed up a bit.

“You’re not going to interfere with my happiness, Calliope! I could’ve made you a queen, a goddess, but you left your musing sisters behind.”

Calliope glared at him.

“Enough of this, Asaph,” she growled.  
“Undo this spell at once, or we’ll be forced to take action.”

He shrugged.

“So you want to fight? Very well.”

With a snap of his fingers, he summoned nearly every single relic in the temple and this was when I thought to myself.

_Oh fuck._

But before doing anything, he reached out for a statue of a dog creature and stroked it from head to ass using one finger, and out of nowhere, a dark cloud appeared. Black smoke formed into a column and dissipated to reveal a dude with a staff and a jackal head.

“Asaph,” he growled in a low voice.  
“You made a promise to me. Now where is my bride?”

This Asaph dude just gave a small nod of the head and gestured over to some anime-looking girl with a muzzle and ears, chained up beside him.

“How lovely,” Anubis cackled as he hovered over the trembling dog-girl before leaning down and petting her head as if she was a real dog.  
“Yes, once the transformation finishes, she will make a perfect bride for me. In fact………why not speed up the process?”

With a snap of his fingers, I saw her struggling, but at the same time, she kinda looked like she was enjoying it. At the same time, she was beginning to grow patches of dark fur and her tail was growing. The dude knelt down beside her and I had the urge to slap the fuck out of him.

“No,” she moaned.  
“I…….will never…….love you!”

Another snap of his fingers and she gasped, attempting to suppress a smile.

“Stop it!” she groaned, seemingly responding to no one.  
“I………..want you----no!----need you-----never!”

“What’s he doing?” I asked Jael.

“He’s sending jolts of euphoria and keeping her thoughts focused on him at the same time, so it’ll create an association in her mind between him and pleasure.”

“Stop this!” Ro called out after a while.

Asaph and Anubis looked up while the girl gasped for breath. Ro tried to seem intimidating, which I gotta give her credit for, she was really trying, but still. She was going up against this fucking jackal god of death.

Immediately Anubis lifted up that star and aimed it in her direction.

“Is there a way we can save them from this?” Ro continued, refusing to back down in spite of this.

“Save them?” Asaph asked meekly, petting Mystic.  
“And destroying my chance at true happiness? Would you really want to?”

* * *

 

** ChiAnubis’ POV: **

Most of them were focused on the situation at hand. But not Anubis. He wasn’t done with me. There was more euphoria as they tried to bargain for our freedom.

_You will love me, ChiAnubis._

Never.

_Your whole life will be devoted to me. Your afterlife shall be devoted to me._

In your dreams!

_You cannot delay the inevitable, my love. It is painful to you. I can tell it is. Succumb to the power. Succumb to your destiny as my queen of the dead._

NEVER!

I tried to block out this whole thing, but it was getting difficult. I had to focus on something else, but what?

Wait! The traitor! Maybe I could call them out!

I looked through each of them. But there was one problem. I didn’t know their names. I had to think back to spying on the stories of Joey and his friends.

“Wait!” I strained to get the word out.  
“I…..have…..an…..idea……”

I felt him pull away and I gasped for breath.

* * *

 

** Gabbie’s POV: **

“And what would that be, my queen?” Anubis purred.

Not gonna lie, that sentence made my fucking skin crawl.

“Have…..a…..challenge,” she gasped.  
“Two duos…...compete in a challenge. The duo that wins……takes me and Mystic back and gives us the antidotes. The duo that loses……will be yours to do with whatever you wish. If both lose…..then we are yours.”

The two of them thought it over.

“Interesting. I accept. And you, Anubis?”

“I concur. If my bride says it to be so, then perhaps it’s fair to try.”

I breathed a sigh of relief.

“But I shall pick the first of each duo.”

One minute, I heard the snap of his fingers. And the next thing I know, I’m frozen. Conscious, but frozen as fuck, with my arms down at my side. But I had a feeling that I was just hypnotized and that fucking terrified me. And I found myself across from the anime girl.

* * *

 

** ChiAnubis’ POV: **

I heard the snap of his fingers and everyone’s heads dropped to their chests.

“Get into a line,” he ordered.

It was like clockwork. They all lined up like wind-up toys. Then another snap of the fingers and they were all awake, but frozen like statues. And Anubis, too, was distracted.

_Now’s my chance._

Trying to look over the throne, I concentrated on each person’s heart. Most of them had a little darkness, but nothing out of the ordinary. For curiosity’s sake, I looked at Mystic’s. It was a little dark, but it was also damaged. More than I’d ever seen from anyone. I knew it would be invasive, but I had to know. Maybe later.

There was a gorgeous woman across from me. I looked inside of her heart. A bit darker than Mystic’s, but just as damaged. I could feel tears form in my eyes as a song emerged from my mouth, one that felt natural, but I didn’t know where it was from.

 _“I knew who you were from the start,”_ I sang.  
_“I just hoped you’d prove me wrong._  
_“I could spend all year just letting down my guard  
__“while you’re stringing me along.”_

All of a sudden, she slowly began to break free. I also heard stirring from Mystic.

 _“Gave it our best shot, but we just missed the mark,”_ she sang beautifully.  
_“Sad to say our love is gone._  
_“I could spend all day just picking you apart  
__“But instead I’ll write a song. It’ll go---“_

 _“Ooh,”_ we both sang.  
_“Ooh, Ooh, so instead I’ll write a song.”_

 _“Said I wouldn't date for a while,”_ I continued with the next two lines. _  
“Still I couldn't help but flirt._

 _“From the day I kissed your smile,”_ she sang, tears forming in her eyes.  
“ _I thought, ‘this is gonna hurt.’_ ”

  
“And it goes,” we both continued.  
“Ooh, ooh  
Ooh, I thought, ‘this is gonna hurt.’”

“Shut up!” Asaph yelled.

All of a sudden, Mystic shot up, a little groggy, and turned to him, defiantly singing. 

_“This is gonna hurt, this is gonna hurt (Gonna hurt).”_  
_“Gave it all we can, it'll never work (Never work)_  
_“This is gonna hurt, this is gonna hurt._  
_“Beware of butterflies, they'll break your heart, your heart.”_

“No,” Anubis growled infuriated.  
“THIS is going to hurt, you disobedient bitch!”

 

And then he threw the relic at her, slamming her square in the face and she dropped back unconscious into Asaph's lap. I could see a bruise form on her face, but Asaph didn’t seem to care. And this angered me.

“Why would you do that?” I squeaked.

But he wasn’t listening. He pointed to one girl.

“You!”

Then he pointed to the girl standing in front of me.

“And you!”

He snapped his fingers and everyone went out of trance. The girl in front of me was seriously tearing up.

“Gabbie!” a little brown girl exclaimed.  
“Are you okay?”

“I….I don’t know,” she croaked through her tears.

“WHAT DID YOU DO?” A familiar voice screamed.

I saw a short woman with brown hair glaring at Asaph.

“Look at Mystic!” she snapped infuriated.

At least someone understood my fury.  
  
“There’s a bruise that wasn’t there before. What did you do?”

She shot a death glare at Asaph. Looking into her heart, it had the least amount of darkness I’d ever seen. A little here and there, but it was lined with silver, indicating good intentions. But in spite of her probably being the most innocent of them, her glare and anger was making Asaph cower.

“I…..I don’t know,” Asaph whimpered as he stared at her cheek.

“Oh shit,” another woman exclaimed.  
“When Ro’s mad, you know you fucked up.”

“Shh!” a man in an emerald-green outfit shushed.

“Now what, bitch?”

“You and you!” he pointed to the two girls.

“What are your names?”

“Nora,” the first trembled.

Something went off in my head. That was one of the names! I looked into her heart. It was tired, a little dark, but nothing out of the ordinary.

“And you?”

“Gabbie.”

“Pick your partners.”

Nora took only a little time.

“Sunny.”

“What?” Sunny spattered.  
“No, I’m not good at physical challenges! You don’t want me!”

“What kind of physical challenge would happen here?”

“Have you PLAYED Temple Run?”

I did once. For nearly a consecutive week.

“You next.”

Gabbie shrugged.

“Safiya, I have a feeling you’ll be helpful.”

The girl called Safiya shrugged and stood beside Gabbie. I looked into her heart. There was also very little darkness, maybe a little, but nothing out of the ordinary. Same was for Sunny. So I could rule Sunny and Nora out.

“Would the two duos step towards me?” Asaph asked.  
“You will be competing in a game called _Beriddled Minds_. In order for you to access the playing field, you must be under a trance.”

“Oh hell no!” Gabbie yelled.

She tried to turn back.

“If you try to leave, you will be killed,” he growled.

Whimpering she went back over to Safiya and gripped her hand.

“I don’t wanna do this, it’s scawwy,” she trembled in a cute voice.

“It will be quick,” Asaph promised her before smirking at her.

“And look on the bright side, if they win, I’d be content with taking you as a replacement bride.”

Her eyes went wide as dinner plates.

“Safiya, please tell me you’re good at riddles,” she pleaded between her teeth.

“I can try.”

“That’s not good enough!”

“Look, if we work together, I think we’ll be okay.”

Gulping Gabbie turned back and gripped Safiya’s hand even tighter. I scanned the line of others as I heard the snap of his fingers. Their bodies dropped to the ground and Ro and another beautiful, dark-skinned woman screamed.

“They’re okay,” Asaph assured the two.  
“They’re entering the arena. And now if you’ll excuse us, Anubis and I must go through this. If you try to leave or take the antidotes, you will be killed.”

In a flash, they disappeared. Ro and a man with brown hair went over to Mystic to assess the damage Anubis had done to her, much to my relief. This was exactly the opportunity I needed. I scanned down the line a little more until I spotted someone, a girl. I looked inside of her. Her heart was nearly black as the darkest midnight. As Monokuma would say, I had found the blackened.

“Hey,” I piped up.  
“You, in the center!”

The girl was a bit startled, but tried to remain composed.

“What’s your name?”

“W-why should I tell you?”

“Why not?”

She approached me suspiciously and knelt down.

“Who are you working for?” she asked in a whisper.

Time to utilize perjury for the third time in a row.

“The same man you work for.”

All of a sudden, she gave me this evil smile.

“Good. I was hoping he’d send another to mess with this group of goody two-shoes. Though I wish he’d sent someone not at ugly.”

I decided to push aside that remark because I needed this info.

“Actually he’s sent me to steal these relics.”

“Oh!” she exclaimed.  
“Yeah, I remember. That hussy Jael said that we weren’t supposed to touch them. But now that you look like this, you can touch them, right?”

I nodded when suddenly her eyes lit up.

“Are the jewels in here cursed?”

I shook my head.

“They don’t belong to any particular deity.”

“Perfect,” she smirked.  
“I’ll try to sneak some out of here and hand them to you to take them back to my master.”

I smirked, trying to convincingly be as evil as possible.

“For the shrine, right?”

She nodded.

“I’d go, but one, I’m not a pack mule like you. Two, I have to be stationed here to give him their location. And three.”

She flipped her hair arrogantly and I swore I could see an evil verison of Hiyoko Saionji in her.

“Because I’m the Cursed God’s favorite creation.”

Creation? This took me by surprise. Major surprise.

“Creation?”

She narrowed her eyes at me.

“Are you sure you’re working for him?”

I was nearly panicking, but keeping it contained. I had to utilize perjury within perjury, or I guess perjurinception, if I wanted to save my neck as well as everyone else's

“Yeah, I am,” I lied.  
“I’m new, though.”

In response, she huffed.

“You average newbies are always so slow. When I was first created from that goody two-shoes, _I_ picked up on things faster than you could imagine, you stupid dog!”

She poked me hard in the chest. If this traitor wasn’t a hybrid of Hiyoko, then I wasn’t sure how to explain her being so snobbish.

“But I gotta go play up the goody two-shoes act. I’ll tell you once we get out of this stupid temple, and I’ll ride you on out. I’ll even put a little feedbag around your head and make you think you’re an ass!”

I swore she even sounded a bit like Hiyoko.

“You can do that?” I wondered.

“Of course,” she scoffed.  
“He granted me persuasion and hypnosis. AND transformation.”

Then she glared at me again.

“If you really are working for the Cursed God, then prove it.”

“How?”

“Will you do anything to prove it?”

I nodded, and immediately regretted it.

“Then you’ll let me transform you into and let me hypnotize you into thinking you’re my stupid, smelly, obedient pack mule donkey AND let me ride you back to the first island. And that’s the only offer. If not, I’ll tell him that you’ve betrayed us. And he trusts me the most.”

Oh God. I couldn’t get caught being a traitor AGAIN. I knew I was going to regret this, deeply, but I had no other choice. I HAD to get this info.

“I promise.”

She grinned evilly.

“Good. If you go through with this, I’ll give you a reward. And don’t think I’m just gonna forget. See you later, packmule!”

She gave me a hard bop on the nose with her finger. I shivered, bracing for the humiliation ahead. On the flip side, it would hopefully be temporary. Plus I’d gotten some information. Not just from her, but from my own intuition. For one, the traitor was female. And two, not only was she a traitor.

She was likely a clone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IDK why I made the traitor sound like that, but I feel like if she IS a clone, or maybe at least brainwashed into working for him, she'd be snobby and evil.
> 
> (Credit to @NervousAliceCurious for the idea of ChiAnubis being able to see into their hearts. If you want to know why it's possible, look on her page for the story "Ultimate Angel.)


	15. Everything Hurts

**Mystic's POV:**

My eyes fluttered open to find myself in whiteness. 

"Well, it has been a while," a voice said.

I looked up to see a woman with two big dark curls on her head. 

"I'm sorry," I apologized.  
"Do I know you?"

She was taken aback by this.

"Mystic, now is not the time for joking," she told me.

"I'm not joking."

"Mystic?" a girl with a green hoodie asked.  
"Don't you know who we are?"

I shook my head.

"Wow," said a boy with dark purple hair.  
"It took her this long to forget us?"

All of a sudden, I heard a storm cloud strike. I shivered and covered myself when I felt someone reach out and pet me. I looked up to see a young man.

"Do not be afraid, my angel," he soothed.

Somehow I knew who he was and I felt safe with him.

"Oh shit, there he is," the boy sighed.  
"Hey, can you maybe get the fuck away from her, CG?"

"Mystic, you have to fight against him," the girl in the green hoodie told me.  
"Or else you'll be stuck."

"I'm serious," the boy said impatiently.  
"You're getting as creepy as Kiyo."

"I don't understand what's going on," I exclaimed as I stood up moving away.  
"And, at this point, I'm afraid to ask."

"Mystic?" another voice shouted.

I looked over to see some vaguely familiar faces, Asaph, and Anubis. The man who'd been petting me earlier turned and growled.

"So this is your plan, is it?" the Cursed God growled, tapping me on the head.

I felt a wave wash over me.

"What the hell's going on?" I asked as he faded away before Asaph could retaliate.

"You passed out," Kokichi said in a matter-of-fact kind of way. 

All of a sudden, I heard him cackle.

"Well, it looks like they've won," he said, gesturing to Safiya and Gabbie. 

I soon felt myself fading. 

"No, wait!" I said.  
"What about Nora and Sunny?"

But I received no answer as everything went dark.

* * *

I bolted upright, finding myself back in the temple. The door was now wide open for some reason. All of a sudden, I heard someone convulsing, and another choking. I whirled around to see Nora and Sunny, violently jerking.

"What the hell is going on?" Oli exclaimed.

"The bitches are going all  _Exorcist_ on us," Manny answered as others were screaming or running around or both.

This was too much. Without thinking I rushed out of the room. 

"Mystic! God damn it!" Nikita shouted.  
"Get your ass back here."

But I didn't listen. I simply kept running.

After some time, I burst out of the temple and gasped for breath. 

"God, why is this so fucking difficult to deal with?" I exclaimed.  
"Wouldn't ending it now just make things better?"

All of a sudden, I heard footsteps and I made a break back to the house, using a teastone to take me directly inside. Locking the doors, I darted to the refrigerator, pulling out a bottle of champagne and a carton of orange juice. If I wasn't actually gonna end it, maybe this would make things more tolerable?

I poured the champagne into the orange juice, and slowly drank a little bit. Feeling a dark cloud cover my mind, I slugged myself upstairs in time to hear someone fiddling with the doorknob. Once in my room, I didn't even bother to lock the door. I placed the carton on the table beside me and closed my eyes, letting the tears fall. Soon I heard people entering, and I tried to suppress my crying.

"Is she...okay?"

"I think so."

"But why would she bring a carton of orange juice up to her room?"

"Vitamin C is an important mineral. Maybe she needed to 

"Oh honey, this isn't just orange juice. I smell some champagne."

"She's drinking?!"

"It doesn't really surprise me; she's been through some tough shit."

"I don't think she's a regular alcohol drinker, though. She turned 21 not too long ago."

"You really think she hasn't had alcohol before that?"

"No, I just said I don't think she drinks  _too_ often."

''I feel like she'd become one if she knew that we didn't get the token because you two--"

"Don't @ us, okay? I didn't know I was gonna be put into a fucking hypnosis challenge. And it's also those dudes' faults that Nora and Sunny are dead."

"Okay, can we please stop blaming each other? This isn't gonna get us anywhere. Maybe we should see if Mystic's okay."

"Anyone wanna get some cold washcloths?"

"Matt and I are on it."

I heard two pairs of footsteps rush out of the room. 

"Fuck," I muttered under my breath as I reached out for the carton.

"When was the last time an unconscious body reached for a mimosa?"

Shit. Nikita caught me. I opened my eyes and sat up.

"Why the fuck did you run off?"

"It's too much," I sighed before I took another sip.  
"I can't handle all of this shit. And we're seriously didn't get the token?"

"He said he never had one to begin with," Gabbie huffed.

"So they died for nothing then."

"I'm sure it had to have been for something," Teala assured me.

I took another sip.

"Maybe we should take our minds off of this and have another pool party," Tana suggested.

"Yeah," Safiya agreed.  
"I really think we all need to unwind after that."

All of a sudden, we heard a scream coming from downstairs. I kind of wondered if it was from the alcohol.

"Shit, that sounded like Justine!"

I dashed out of bed and downstairs where she stood over a pile of ash.

"Oh good. I'm not hallucinating, but what the hell happened?"

"I don't know!" she exclaimed.  
"He was there one minute and now he's gone!"

"Who are you talking about?"

All of a sudden, I remembered something Bretman had said earlier.

_"His spirit is connected to his character's lifeline, meaning if he dies in the show, he dies in this world as well."_

And I knew.

"Fuck!" I cried out before sighing.  
"Did he say anything before.....you know?"

Justine paused to collect herself.

"He said something about Destorm stealing his wallet."


	16. Suspicions Abound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mystic shuts herself off until the others reach out to her to join them for a pool party. However not everything is as it seems.

Over the next few days, I tried to keep myself busy. There was virtually no way off the island at that point, so I had to make do with what we had. There was so much to do in that house. We had an arcade, a pool, a game room, you name it and we had it. So with all of that, it should've kept my interest, right? But that was the problem. None of it interested me. As a matter of fact, I began to find myself losing interest in everything. I became more irritable, I lost my appetite, and most of my time was spent being shut up in my room. The only thing I felt like doing was sleeping. 

However sleeping imposed another threat. Every time I would fall asleep, no matter what kind of dream it was, _he_ would always be there. Whether he was a main part of the dream or he was simply in the background, I could always see him and it drove me insane! And the more I saw him, the worse my symptoms got. But that wasn't the strangest part of it all. In almost every dream in which he was a main character, it would always have something to do with reality and fiction being merged together, me opening the barrier, me becoming queen of eternity by his side, overlooking the chaos. And I would find myself satisfied by it, and happy to be at his side. That was what scared me the most.

I didn't want to tell anyone; they'd likely think I was going insane, and to be honest, I wouldn't blame them. Instead I simply locked myself in my room, rarely leaving except to go to the bathroom and maybe get a small thing to eat. Surprisingly no one came to check on me those first few days, at least as far as I knew. It was quite possible that they were just outside of the door listening, but if they were, I couldn't tell. Sometimes I would peek out just to see if perhaps they were waiting to ambush me, but I didn't see anything of the sort. 

About a week or so passed and I got a knock on the door.

"What?" I groaned.

But there was no reply. Instead I heard the sound of paper sliding and then footsteps receding. Curious I crept over to the door. Someone had slipped an envelope under the door. Hesitantly I picked it up and opened it. 

_Mystic,_

_We know we haven't heard from you in a while, but we all decided that we needed to give you some space. However we do really miss you and we think you should come hang out with us. In fact, we're having a pool party tonight in about ten or twenty minutes; there's gonna be music, food, and a little performance. You don't have to join us, but it would be awesome if you did._

_Signed,_

_Andrea R._

Even though this seemed to be well-intentioned, I couldn't help but feel as though this was also some sort of set-up. The last time there was a "little performance," we were ambushed. I also had a hunch that Penelope would be behind this somehow. Then again, I definitely needed the fresh air; my room was getting really stuffy. Sighing, I stood up, finding myself a little disoriented. I stumbled over to the closet and picked out a one piece; it was a simple solid violet color. I had a little trouble undressing and getting the suit on; I felt as though my head was stuck in a tornado. But eventually I managed to get the whole thing on. I didn't bother looking in the mirror; I knew that if I did, I would hate what I saw. 

Quietly opening the door, I peeked out into the hall. It seemed as though everything was in slight doubles. Placing my hands against the wall, I side-stepped towards the stairs. Taking it one step at a time, I inched my way down. I was near the bottom when the next thing I knew, my foot was hurting and I was in Justine and Tana's arms.

"Wha...what happened?" I groaned. 

"You took quite a fall," Justine told me as she and Tana supported me.  
"I think you blacked out."

"Probably, because I don't remember what happened between coming down the stairs and now."

"Girl, have you been eating or drinking  _anything_?" Tana gasped.  
"Your face is pale as fuck."

"I've......been having weird dreams," I said.

It wasn't totally a lie. At the very least, all of these Cursed God dreams were rather "weird." Once again, I felt a blaring pain in my foot.

"Fuck! My foot," I growled.

"Let's get you to one of the couches outside," Justine said.  
"I think you got another sprain."

Struggling against the pain, I let the two lead me outside to the backyard where some beach-type music was playing. Liza was helping Penelope at the grill. Safiya was doing some nail art. Ro and Colleen were working on a cake of some sort. Ines, Bailey, Dooper, Alice, Erica, Stella, Candy Pop, Tristen, and Envy were off in the back corner talking about who-knows-what. A few of the others were in the pool playing water volleyball, I guess. Gabbie, Nikita, Bretman, and Manny were letting Rene take pictures as they posed rather dramatically, especially Gabbie. I couldn't really pick out much else.

"Hey! There's the gal of the hour," Taylor smiled.  
"How're you feeling?"

I merely shrugged.

"We need the couch clear," Justine explained.  
"Mystic took a fall on her way down."

"Got it!" Taylor exclaimed.  
"I'll tell the others. I'm sure they can find somewhere else to crash."

"Once this is done, I need to crash the bar," Tana announced.

After Taylor had returned, they led me to a rather nice-looking couch. I noticed how soft it was as I sat down. Immediately Jael rushed over and scanned my foot.

"Well," she announced.  
"You seem to be rather lucky when it comes to injuries. It's only another sprain."

Thank God.

I sat and watched the others with an ice pack on my forehead. It was mostly typical party stuff. Tana was over at the bar and at the photoshoot. Sasha was helping to season the barbecue food. Occasionally a few people, like Shiloh, Briar, and Montana, would come check on me. They all said that they felt bad about what happened.

"No sweat," I told them.  
"It's just bad luck."

"But it really sucks that you can't enjoy it to the fullest," Harlow said as they peeked out from the pool along with Hazel and Caelan.  
"The water's really nice."

"I bet," I agreed.  
"But really, I'm fine here."

"Well, at least you won't miss out on the food, right?" Hazel chirped.  
"Ro's been prepping a cake for the past few days; she told me she's really excited that you're here and hopes you'd be able to give it a taste."

Saliva was already accumulating in my mouth. Ro was pretty much a pro-baker at that point. I'd been hoping to give her cake and treats a taste, savor the flavor.

"And hopefully, you won't miss the performance," Caelan said.  
"We've got some pretty good acts lined up."

I simply nodded. I was about to doze off for a bit when something in the background caught my attention. It'd been happening for sometime now, but I didn't think much of it until now. Occasionally someone from that group in the back corner-Ines, Alice, Envy, Dooper-would sneak away and talk to Penelope or Gabbie. They'd come close together as if they didn't want anyone hearing. I tried to sit up to do some sleuthing, but my head wouldn't let me. Nonetheless I kept trying.

"Mystic," a voice told me.

I yelped. Looking over, I saw Bailey. They had on monochrome shorts and a monochrome tanktop with a strange red shape on the right. Then again, they always had this sort of style on. Of course, they had their matching monochrome beanie with bear ears and their black eyepatch with the same red symbol on it, covering their left eye. The style reminded me of a character from an anime video game.

"You really shouldn't be straining yourself," they continued.  
"It's not good for you."

"What's....going on?" I huffed.  
"Why are you whispering to people?"

"You want me to get you some water?" they continued as if I hadn't said a word.  
"You seem dehydrated."

"Bailey, what the hell is going on?" I snapped.  
"Why are you and the others constantly going back and forth and talking to the same three people?"

"Whoa! No need to get so angry."

"Tell me what's going on!"

Without another word, they rushed back to the group, almost in a panic. I began to wonder about this performance coming up. I decided to do a little sleuthing from where I was. Alice ran back over to talk to Penelope, who proceeded to pull something from her pocket. The light above them seemed to bounce off of it, reflecting against the surface of the pool. 

_So she's carrying something shiny. But what--?_

"Everyone!" Joey spoke up excitedly from a mic on a makeshift stage.  
"It's almost time for the talent show."

That was when my mind put two-and-two together.

_If this is what I think it is, then I need to hide before Penelope gets up there._


	17. Confidentiality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mystic plans to escape the hypnotism act that she knows is meant to make her sing. But when she finds a secret room, she runs into a situation even worse than that.

As everyone began to gather by the stage, I knew that I had to do something, and fast. First I needed to assess the possible outcomes. If I tried just leaving, I felt like someone was going to catch me. Maybe if I told someone I wasn't feeling well, it might work. Perhaps my foot could be an excuse for not going up there. 

Matt was going up there first with a powerpoint presentation, likely on some sort of theory. I knew I'd have to buy myself some time. Pulling out my teastone bag, I took one out and whispered

"I wish the laptop and projector would experience some technical difficulties without erasing the project."

The stone glowed and I slipped the dust into the bag. Sure enough, it seemed Matt was having trouble with the projector. 

"Um, anyone here wanna give me a hand? It's not turning on. Neither is the laptop."

A few people went up to the stage to try to help Matt with his equipment. In the meantime, I scanned the area and this was when I  _knew_ something was up. Gabbie, Nikita, Justine, and Tana were all guarding the doors that led inside. If I tried to escape without a diversion, I'd be caught for sure. Quickly I took out another teastone and muttered

"I wish Gabbie, Nikita, Justine, and Tana would experience some fixable wardrobe malfunctions."

Out of nowhere I heard a scream.

"My wig!" Nikita exclaimed.

It looked like pieces of it had partially sprung out. Along with that, Tana's vest, Gabbie's coat, and Justine's blouse all had a tear or two in them. After some whispering, the 4 of them ran inside to fix things up, leaving the sliding door open. That was my chance. Just in case I could risk getting caught, I pulled out a third and wished for an invisibility cloak. Once I found it, I covered myself with it and placed the hood far over my head. Standing up was a small pain, but I managed and soon found myself limping towards the door. I could feel the brush of the air-conditioning waft outside. Carefully I stepped up and over, making it inside without drawing suspicion.

At least I hoped. 

I found myself inside of the game room. A ton of machines were scattered about, some blinking wildly, others only displaying a black screen. On one of the game chairs nearby, I saw a small flashlight. I picked it up and felt my way around for somewhere to hide, crawling on the wooden floor. I pushed my hand out, until I felt the wall. But I didn't just feel the wall; I felt a handle. 

"A secret door?"

I'd seen and read  _Coraline_ enough to know that secret doors usually meant danger was ahead, but I was curious. Slowly I turned the handle and the door swung open. Shining the flashlight, I saw wooden stairs leading down. Steeling myself, I took a deep breath and headed down, shutting the door to a crack. 

Even though I was certain I was safe, I couldn't help but feel an ominous aura around me, as if there was something here that I didn't want to be. As I took it one step at a time, my fear also began to mix with a sense of freedom. To my knowledge, I hadn't done much exploring on my own, so it was a bit euphoric to go down there by myself. Once I reached the bottom, I shoe the light around. From what I could see, it looked like an abandoned library of sorts. I shone it all around. There was also an abandoned bar, some couches, and a few game tables. But what caught my eye was the floor.

On the wooden floor was a golden insignia, one that I was certain I'd seen before, but I couldn't remember where or from what. However it seemed to have been long abandoned, so I was sure whoever it previously belonged to wouldn't mind me using it for a while, as where there's an insignia, there's usually information. 

I limped my way over to a table. Shining the flashlight, I saw a file and it had six letters on it 

MYSTIC

Why was there a file of me? Should I even look inside? My instincts immediately told me yes, and I agreed. Picking up the file, I sat down on one of the couches and shone a light on it. There was all of this detailed information about me; my real name, my blood type, etc,. were all present. It was mostly ordinary, until I saw the last few pages. There I found some topics that I wasn't sure what they were about, especially because some of it was contradicting what I already knew, or maybe I thought I knew?

"Lineage? Magic Specialty? What  _dimension_ I come from? What the hell is all of this?"

I had to know just what was going on. I flipped to the section on lineage and read 

_Mystic has been identified as a relation to Lydia Waverly, princess and heir to [name I couldn't quite make out], meaning Mystic is in line to rule. This puts her at a high risk for being targeted by those who wish to blend reality and fantasy. Protect by any means necessary._

So I was apparently royalty? Huh. I skimmed down the file.

_It has also been discovered that Mystic is a close relation to Princess [name was crossed out] of the [smudged] Realm. This also puts her at a high risk of being targeted. Will have to convince Queen [smudged out name] to send out her bodyguard._

Huh. I flipped over to the next section on Magic Specialty.

_Mystic is a rare anomaly; like Lydia Waverly and the six other [smudged] of [smudged], she possesses a balance of dream, time, history, space, and dimensional power. However it can only be activated and used outside of reality; that is, if the barrier hasn't been brought down. We've entrusted Andrea to use the [smudged] to awaken the magic in her in the hopes that she can use it to restore balance and defeat [smudged]._

Andrea? Awaken my magic? I thought back to when I first arrived at the agency.

_All of a sudden, a siren rang out as a violet laser bounced around the room._

_"Andrea?" Safiya gasped._  
_"What the hell happened?"_

 _"I don't know," Andrea squawked in a panic._  
_"I think I slipped up against it."_

I hadn't noticed it before, but as I thought back on it, before I'd gone in, I'd seen a purple wire that was hastily plugged in. So did Andrea  _know_ what she was doing? Did she have some sort of connection to whomever wrote my file? Does she still have that connection? 

_We've entrusted Rosanna and Gabbie to keep close watch. In the event that she is taken hostage to his lair, they know they must use [smudged] power to activate a protection circle around Mystic on the day of the wedding. Nikita will be in charge of keeping watch for the traitor. [smudged] must've been taken and [smudged] by the Cursed God, but we can't say for sure._

Below that there was another scribbled entry, in different handwriting, one that caught me completely off-guard:

_Keep Joey away from Mystic at all costs. He is not to be trusted._

My blood ran cold. Keep Joey away from me? Not to be trusted? What was going on? Was Joey in cahoots with the Cursed God? Was he a sort of pawn? Maybe he's actually the traitor? 

_Don't let your mind go nuts. Just keep reading._

Taking a deep breath, I continued to find another hastily-scribbled note. 

_We've discovered the name of the traitor among the writers. It's----_

The entry stopped there, instead there was some powdery dust on the bottom and back. What on earth could've happened? Who wrote this? Why was there dust on it?

I knew that I couldn't stay down there for much longer. Closing the file, I set it down on the table, and that was when I realized; the spot I was sitting in was warmer than it should've been.

Quickly I stood up, clutching the invisibility cloak and pulling it over me, as I heard a door open and someone emerging. I flattened against the wall. In the darkness, it was difficult to tell who it was, but I could sense them getting nearer. I heard the rustling of papers. 

"I can't believe I nearly forgot this," a familiar voice exclaimed.  
"Though it feels....warm. As if it's been recently touched."

I froze in a panic.

"Is my mind playing tricks on me? Perhaps it's the fumes again. But surely they should've worn off by now. Or perhaps......Nadine? Have you finally returned to me?"

I could see his face in my mind: mask and all. Gautier  _had_ survived the opera house fire, as I had feared. Had he been living down here the whole time? I took quiet, deep breaths, hoping to calm myself. 

"You can't hide forever, Nadine Rose," he chuckled.  
"I  _will_ find you, and when I do, well, I have a beautiful bird cage just waiting for you to sing to me in."

_Uh, no thanks._

Slowly and quietly, I began to sidestep towards the stairway trying not to even so much as whimper in pain. At this point, I'd take Penelope's hypnotism over being trapped in a birdcage and singing for  _him_ any day.

"Perhaps you need a little.....persuasion," he mused.  
"And I have just the thing. Wait right here, my darling."

Walking back towards the door, his shadow present in the dim lighting, Gautier's footsteps began to fade.

_Now's_ _my chance._

As quickly as I could, holding the cloak close, I ran back and shone my flashlight on the table. The file was still there, thank God! I snatched it up, gripped it tightly, and quickly limped up the stairs and through the secret door. Sliding through and making sure nothing was left in the dark, I silently shut the door, my heart banging in my chest. At least I was safe from him for now. Now there was a different problem. I wasn't able to read more of the file and it was fairly extensive. I had to get this up to my room. 

Luckily, Gabbie and the others were out of the house by that point, as far as I knew, so I headed upstairs, shut the door, hid the file in the cloak and the cloak under my pillow, and limped back out. Once again my lack of self-care caught up with me and I began to feel dizzy. I sat down on the top stair and pushed myself down each one. When I reached the bottom, I tried to stand up, but I was extremely wobbly. Like a drunk octopus, I stumbled back over to the backyard. Or tried to, rather. But soon, I couldn't bear another second. My vision went dark and my hearing was taken. 


	18. Nostalgia and Flora

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mystic and 4 others return to the room to retrieve the rest of the files, but find more than they bargained for.

_"I can't believe this bitch passed out **again**."_

_"Seems like it's becoming a habit for her."_

_"I think also a lack of self-care is becoming a habit for her. The poor girl needs to be kinder to herself."_

_"How did she even get inside anyway?"_

_"I fear she discovered our plan."_

_"I mean, she's said that she wants to get over the fear of singing in front of others."_

_"Yes, however I'mbeginning to believe that hypnotism may not be helpful for her in this case. As a matter of fact, I have come to the conclusion that it may actually make things worse."_

_"Shit. That's coming from a hypnotist herself."_

_"Indeed."_

My vision began to come to as I felt ice packs on me. I saw a familiar ceiling and faces. Penelope, Nikita, Erica, Alice, Colleen, Ro, Matt, Manny, and Gabbie, to name a few.

"Oh God," I groaned not bothering to sit up this time; I knew someone's hand was going to push me back down.  
"I did it again, didn't I?"

"Obviously," Nikita scoffed.

"Hey, leave her be," Ro told her.  
"She just woke up."

At that moment, I remembered why I wasn't outside anymore; I'd snuck inside to get away from that damn talent show. I'd ended up discovering a secret hideout in the game room. I found a file on myself, and I had a feeling there were more.

"I have to get back there," I gasped.

"Huh?" Erica questioned.

_Shit._

"Uh...um....Ro, Manny, Nikita, Alice, I need to talk to you four alone."

The rest shrugged and left. Once I was certain they were gone, I reached under my pillow and pulled out the file. 

"Look at what I found," I told them.  
"There's a basically-abandoned hideout underneath the house. There's a door in the game room that leads down in to it and I found a file on me. I have a feeling that there are more. I need to get down there and find them."

"Whoa, hold up," Nikita stopped me.  
"What about you resting?"

I glared at her incredulously.

"These files could fill in the gaps of this whole fucking mystery."

"Are you sure it's safe?" Alice wondered.

"Nope, I know Gautier's down there, but fuck it! I'm going to find those files."

I jumped out of bed and, with a surge of energy, I rushed downstairs and into the game room before waiting for the others. 

"Bitch, slow down!" Manny panted.  
"We're not Sonic the Hedgehog."

"I don't think we should be going down there," Alice shivered.

"We'll be fine. We've got a gal with muscle, a gal with kick-ass boots, and the strongest bitch on the block," I assured her, pointing at Ro, Nikita, and Manny.

"Let's go for it," Ro said.

"Bitch, wait," Nikita exclaimed.  
"We need a flashlight."

"I found one in the game room when I hid inside here. Let's check around."

The five of us searched everywhere, under arcade machines, on top of shelves, even considering unscrewing the vents to see if maybe there was one inside, until...

"I found it!" Alice called out.

"Shh!" Nikita shushed.  
"Don't get us caught!"

She handed the flashlight off to me and I slowly opened the little door. To my surprise, I heard laughter and music. I looked at the others and they seemed to have heard the same thing.

"I thought you said it was abandoned," Nikita shivered.

"It was when I was down here, save for the HOPE-ra ghost. C'mon. Let's see what's going down."

Creeping downstairs I nearly lost my balance; the lights were on, the lounge was in full swing, full of people I didn't even recognize. Were we hallucinating?

"Should we leave?" Manny asked in a tone that sounded more like "we-should-really-fucking-leave-like-now!"

I shook my head.

"I need those files, and by God, I'm gonna get them!"

Holding my head high, I walked through the crowd towards a bookshelf with various manuals, poetry, etc,. as well as a box full of files.

"Ginny, pass me another Old-Fashioned," someone called laughing.

"That'll be your fourth tonight!" a woman yelled.

"Who cares? We're drinkin' like kings t'nite!"

"Ryu's right," a woman chuckled.

 _Ryu?_ I looked over in the direction of the woman, and it was a younger Jael and nearby was indeed a younger Ryu! Both were carrying drinks and were the happiest I'd ever seen them.

"We've driven that bastard far away for now. Least we can do is let a  _little_ loose."

"Who'd you drive away?" I asked.

I received no answer.

"Okay, so we're seeing a flashback?"

Alice gasped out of the blue.

"This must be where some of the parties used to be!"

I whirled around, staring at her confused.

"Shane said they'd have parties after every major mission. Like how we tried to have that little party after the Society made sure we were safe."

"That explains the insignia! Okay, who else would be here?"

"Over there!" Ro pointed.

Looking in her direction, I saw a woman fabulously dressed, but seemingly a bit aloof. She was off sitting on a bar stool in the corner with a glass of champagne in her hand, talking with a woman who had long black hair. They looked...rather familiar, and they seemed deeply engaged in a conversation. I decided to get a closer listen by myself into what they were saying.

"You four go grab the files, every single one," I whispered.  
"I've gotta do something real quick."

I crept over to them and listened. 

"----always a chance she could emerge and pose a danger to the Society," a familiar voice confided.

_Penelope?_

"That's why you've been assigned extra meditation training," another familiar voice, Calliope, assured her.  
"This will keep your alter at bay."

"No, I don't believe it will," she whispered as she downed a small glass of champagne, her slurring indicating that she was either a lightweight or extremely inebriated.  
"Calliope, you don't know the shit I've been through! My parents were emotionally abusive, I ran off when I wasn't even of age, and I just discovered that the love I had? It was fake! I was manipulated into thinking I was madly in love! They'd send me to the headmaster's office everyday for 'specialized training' and it simply turned out to be my parents' way of controlling my life from afar. They only saw me as a doll or a piece of clay for them to mold me into. Hell, if it weren't for my alter, I wouldn't even be here! I'd be stuck in a high society of uptight connections, married to someone I never really love, at least not in the sense my parents wanted me to, and I'd be raising my children the same way!"

That was a ton of news to me, and I'd arrived so conveniently. Penelope had this whole past that she never told anyone about, and I had a feeling that that was simply the tip of the iceberg. 

"Mystic," Calliope said.

I practically screamed as past Calliope got up from her stool. Wait, was it  _actually_ past Calliope?

"How....what.....huh?"

Calliope snapped her fingers and the room went dark except for a small light in the library corner where I'd found my file. The music, the laughter, even the happiness had gone from the room, leaving a melancholy shadow in its wake.

"Calliope?" Ro asked.

The woman nodded, giving us a sad smile.

"I see you found out about this room," she replied.

"How were you able to do that?" I asked her.

"The Society has a way of imprinting memories of events at certain places into realistic projections. Being a part of the Society is rewarding, but it can get rather lonely. Often we go decades without seeing any outside friends or family, so it helps to have rooms like these to keep us sane."

"And....Penelope?" I asked sadly.

She nodded.

"How else would Lilith have developed within her?"

"But then how did she completely detach from her?"

"That is still one question that we can't answer. Now what do you plan to do with those files?"

I looked over at the box of files Manny, Nikita, Ro, and Alice were trying so desperately to keep out of Calliope's line of sight.

"Read them," I stated.  
"I really feel like these files will contain the answers we've been looking for. If you plan to keep us from taking them, we won't go down without a fight."

"I wasn't planning to," she shrugged.  
"I would like to warn you, however, that you may end up reading things you wish you hadn't."

"Bitch, I've seen some pretty fucked-up shit," Manny scoffed.  
"I've had a  _tapeworm_ inside of me. I think I can handle this."

"That goes double for me!" Nikita agreed.  
"Well, actually, I don't actually know if I've had a tapeworm in me before."

"If you're going to read them, however, I would like to read them with you. There are some smudges and things crossed out---"

" _ **M y  l o v e !**_ "

The bookcase burst open and in stomped a Gautier whose eyes seemed to have been replaced by black holes, or maybe that was really me halluctinating.

" _ **I knew you would come back to me!**_ "

He made a reach to grab me, but Calliope pulled out a shot gun and sent a bullet into his arm.

"Go!" she ordered us.  
"Now!" 

She didn't need to tell us again. We booked it up the stairs, careful to not let any of the files spill out, and soon Calliope somersaulted in through the small door. Slamming it shut, we proceeded to cover it with the game room couch nearby, pushing it far against the wall.

"That was  _way_ too close!" Alice exclaimed, trembling severely.

She and I flopped down on the couch; I felt light-headed again and my face had seemed to lose all pigmentation. I was about to doze off when I spotted a file sticking out. I picked it up to see a name. 

_Ivy Flora._

"Weird," I muttered under my breath.

"What's weird?" Alice asked.

I handed her the file and she stammered in disbelief.

"Are you serious?"

"Do you know who this is?" I wondered.

"I might....or someone else might."

"Why do you possibly know?"

"Because Flora," she answered.  
"Is Envy's last name."


	19. Blood Moon Madness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (CW: Sorta mental breakdown, I guess? And needles.)

For the next several days, we spent most of the time up in my room taking down any information that seemed important. I was especially invested, writing down every bit of information, even those that seemed irrelevant. Later on in this process, for maybe two days or more, I barely slept a wink, ate almost nothing, and only stopped to go to the bathroom while still bringing my notebook inside to see if I could connect the dots. 

It got to the point where I'd lock the door to keep the others from coming inside, as they'd keep telling me that I needed sleep, I needed to eat, I should take a break. How could I do anything when all of the answers I needed could be right in front of me? But that, combined with my previous bout of care, or lack thereof, I began to feel extremely dizzy, lightheaded, nauseous. Somedays it seemed as though I was seeing double, but I had to get these answers. 

I had to know what was going on. 

Page after page I'd check, hoping to find something to piece everything together. 

I had to know.

I had to know.

I had to......

* * *

The next thing I knew, I was practically swaddled in my bed like an infant. My arms were still free, but my arms ached and throbbed. My body felt as though it was overheating, even with ice packs and wet cloths all over me. At the same time, a chill ran through my body which had a strong malaise sensation, almost as if I'd become a glass doll and I was extremely fragile.

My head was still spinning and my vision was blurry, but I could see various indistinct figures walking back and forth towards my bed, placing things on me and removing things from me. I began to feel my heart race. Who were these people? Were they even people? Was I in some sort of hospital? Was I in an alien spaceship? I began to thrash around; I tried to scream, but it seemed as though nothing was coming from my mouth. All I could hear were blends of voices that sounded vaguely familiar. The figures came closer. The voices got louder, but I still couldn't make out what they were saying. It was only just now that I felt multiple people gripping onto me. Suddenly, the blurriness in my ears gradually faded into clarity. I could hear a loud shrieking, and various familiar voices trying to calm me down.

"Mystic! It's okay, you're okay!"

Thankfully my vision was slowly fading back. Safiya, Ro, Colleen, Nikita, Calliope, Alison, Alice, Gabbie, and Matt were all trying to hold me down. I could hear other people coming and going from my room. My fear was replaced with a sense of urgency. 

"The files...." I gasped breathlessly as I tried to sit up.  
"I need those files...."

"Mystic, you've been overexerting yourself," Safiya told me as she tried to hold me back down.  
"We found you collapsed on the floor of your room."

"You need rest, honey," Nikita replied almost desperately.  
"Jael told us that if you keep this up, you'll be a dead bitch in probably a week. You haven't even had any water to drink."

I tried to feel my mouth, and find any signs of saliva, but Nikita was right; my mouth was as dry as sandpaper, but I refused to admit it. I shook my head.

"I need.....those files," I rasped as I tried to fight against their grasps, but with how weak my body was, I was no match for them. I kept fighting, though. What was I supposed to do? Just admit how weak I am?

"Mystic, stop! Please," Ro exclaimed worried.  
"You're only making it worse on yourself. You  _need_ to rest and get your strength back."

"I have strength!" I tried to snap, but I suddenly felt my body begin to heat up even more and I felt dizzier and dizzier. I collapsed onto the pillow and began to weep, but no tears came out.

"Shh," Penelope coaxed.  
"It's going to be alright."

Out of nowhere, I felt a wet cloth rub on my left arm and then a poke. I whimpered slightly and I turned to my left to find an IV in my arm. I shuddered at the mere sight. I hated needles so much.

"What.....are you doing?" I asked weakly.

"You're severely dehydrated," Jael exclaimed as she placed a capsule inside the IV bag.  
"This is going to deliver fluids to you until you're strong enough to sit up."

"And....the....capsule?"

"It's fortifying the water with vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes to help balance out your body."

She placed a few wires and whatnot on my body.

"And these will be for checking your heartrate."

"But......the.....files...."

"Shh," Penelope coaxed once more.  
"You need to take it easy, darling."

I shook my head in defiance. 

"I'm not gonna be a burden on you all! I refuse."

"You won't be!" Alice gasped.

"Yeah right," I snapped weakly.  
"I got you all into this mess, and I was a burden. But now because I just  _had_ to go looking for answers, I'm now a bigger burden on everyone!"

"Everyone needs to relax once in a while," Colleen assured me.

"I can't afford to," I protested.  
"I need to fix the mess I created back in November."

I heard a sigh from Ro.

"Penelope," she announced.  
"Saf. I need to talk to you both for a moment outside."

They followed her, shutting the door behind them. 

"What's going on?" I asked feeling winded with even just the question.

"No fucking clue," Gabbie replied too quickly.

I narrowed my eyes at her, but it soon hurt to even react. I was stuck on the border between being unable to stay awake and being unable to go to sleep. All I could do was lightly shut my eyes. After some time, the door opened.

"What did you decide?" I heard Alice ask.  
"Is it a good idea?"

"I'm dubious," said Penelope.  
"She still doesn't trust me."

"But she  _needs_ help," Ro begged.  
"She's making things much worse on herself by struggling."

"It might be the only solution we have," Safiya sighed.  
"Mystic's incredibly stubborn."

"She's right there, you know?" Alice pointed out.

"So shouldn't we ask her ourselves then?" Penelope wondered.

"I feel like she's still too weak to talk," Gabbie disagreed.

"She seemed pretty strong enough to fight against us," Colleen said.

"She's extremely determined," Matt sighed.  
"Question is: why was she so determined to fight against us?"

"That's certainly something of a mystery."

"Why are we still here?" Nikita groaned.  
"There's no token on this island."

"This used to be an S.A.E. bunker and hideout," Jael explained.  
"Down in the basement hideout are some of our files. We figured it may satisfy Mystic's need to find answers."

This stunned me. They knew? So they handed it to me on a silver platter? Fury boiled inside of me, and I tried to rip out my IV. 

"Mystic, no!" Colleen practically screamed as Nikita tried to pry my hand away.

"Mystic, please stop!" Ro begged. 

I kept fighting and fighting until I spotted Alice carrying a wet cloth and a syringe. I violently shook my head, but she applied the wet cloth and stuck me with it; I began to feel extremely woozy and groggy. Soon enough I was out.

* * *

 

I kept drifting in and out of consciousness for some time. The others regularly came to check on me. It started getting annoying, as I could hear them talk about how much I've suffered and how "I just want to protect her" and all that bullshit, likely when they thought I was asleep. Lots of people had it worse off than I did. What made me so fucking special?

It got to the point where I was finally stable and where I'd be conscious for at least an hour at a time. By then I thought it'd be over.

Boy was I wrong. 

Just like after I attempted suicide back at the facility, I was placed under watch nearly 24/7 with people switching in between, making sure I got enough to eat and drink, making sure my heart rate wasn't too fast. I felt like such a burden.

One night, I finally had a little bit of time to myself (at least it seemed that way when I woke up) and I saw my bag of teastones on the floor not too far from me, but not that close either. Since I was feeling okay, I decided to give these "powers" I have a try. I focused on the bag, picturing it moving off of the floor, the velvet lifting from the carpet. 

And that's when I heard it: worried conversation was happening just outside of my closed door. This gave me more determination and, soon enough.....

I got it at least half an inch off of the floor. 

Baby steps, okay. At least I didn't set anything on fire this time. 

"Fuck this," I whispered. 

Sitting up, I took a few seconds to adjust myself and stand up. I took the IV stand and slowly shuffled towards the door. And then I could hear them.

_"---would be unwise if we want her to stay safe."_

Calliope.

_"But surely, all of us combined could help, right?"_

Ro.

 _"I'm afraid it's not that simple,"_ Alison.  
_"The Blood Moon is quickly approaching."_

 _"Oh shit,"_ Alex.

 _"Indeed,"_ Calliope.  
_"So while **her** powers will be amplified that night, so will his. We need to stay on this island for as long as we can, at least until the blood moon passes over."_

 _"You're making it sound like she's not strong enough,"_ Alice.  
_"You know we're right outside of her room, right? If she hears what we're saying---"_

 _"That shouldn't be a problem,"_ Jael.  
_"According to my device her heart rate is resting, so it's most likely that she's still asleep."_

 _"Honey, you're talking like you don't know Mystic,"_ Nikita.  
_"That bitch is not to be underestimated. Remember when she tried to pull out her IV? It was like trying to handle a rabid cat."_

 _"That doesn't really mean she can fake being asleep especially when it comes to her heart rate._ _And at any rate the blood moon will be here soon. If he manages to take her captive before then, he wouldn't need to wait to gain her trust. Instead he could just put her under a spell to have her lower the barrier."_ Penelope.

 _"But that doesn't make sense. Wouldn't she have to trust him on her own terms? It says so in the rules right?"_ Ro.

 _"The blood moon would nullify those rules. Any magic used on that night can surpass conventions, meaning that if the Cursed God gets his hands on Mystic, it's game over for all of us."_ Alison

My heart rate began to rise. Was I hearing correctly? Could he simply just put me under a spell to lower the barrier? No free will trust required? My heart rate began to skyrocket and I felt like I was about to have a panic attack everything began to spin. I could feel the IV coming out of my skin, and a device on the outside was beeping rapidly.

_"What's going on?"_

Everything was spilling over to a point where I couldn't comprehend what was going on. My emotions were everywhere, and I couldn't think straight until, finally, I fell to the ground and blacked out. 


	20. The Next Destination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kerrie has an empire going on.

I shot up.

"Oh geez!" Matt exclaimed, my mind still racing.  
"She nearly gave me a heart attack."

It was as though it was trying to process what I'd missed when I fell unconscious, as though someone had put my mind on fast-forward. Shadows rushed around the room. Voices overlapped one another. It was one of the most overwhelming sensations I'd ever experienced.

But finally everything began to slow down. I felt a slight sense of relief and calm until I remembered what I had heard.

"How did you get out of bed?" Safiya asked when my mind had finally synced up with reality.

"I.....walked," I scoffed.

"You shouldn't have," Jael scolded.  
"Your balance is still very off."

"I'm fine."

"Then explain why the IV came out of your arm---"

"What do you mean the blood moon is near?" I blurted out.

Silence. No one could bring themselves to say anything for what felt like an hour.

"I told you she'd be awake," Alice sighed.

"How close is the blood moon?" I asked worried.

Jael and Calliope glanced at each other, concern spreading over their faces. 

"It's.....nothing to worry about," Jael answered.

Nothing to-----? 

"From what I heard, it sure as hell doesn't sound that way."

"We have only a few weeks," Calliope sighed. 

"That's not a lot of time. And we have what? 3 tokens?"

"3 or 4, if you count the possibility of one of us being a token," Ro reminded us.

"Bullshit," I scoffed.  
"He's just trying to scare us."

"Hey, I don't mean to steer us off-track," Matt coughed.  
"But something popped up in my mind, something that Killer Clown Leader said back at the hotel about blueprints for a doomsday device. What kind of device were they even talking about?"

I tried to think back. Blueprints? What did he mean? Then it clicked.

* * *

 _"Where did you even get these blueprints anyway?" Silvia wondered._  
_"And furthermore, blueprints for what?"_

_"Blueprints for a doomsday device that'll put Mesmera over there to shame," the Leader giggled, pointing at Penelope._

* * *

"Something that she said would put Penelope to shame," I said.  
"So perhaps it'd have to do with......."

I trailed off.

"Shit," I gasped.  
"It's a hypnotism device! Could it be relevant to the blood moon?"

"It's possible they might use the blood moon to enhance the machine to make it extremely effective," Jael said somberly.  
"In that case, we'll have to act fast if we're gonna find those tokens."

All of a sudden, we felt and heard a loud rumble. Then someone dashed into the room, panting. I sat up, trying to ignore the dizziness. Even without her jackal features, I knew who she was.

"Chiaki?" I gasped.  
"What's going on?"

"They-----they found a way to undo the wish I made!" she exclaimed.  
"I don't know how."

"Wish?"

She sighed.

"Before we crossed paths, I made a wish to keep you and the Cursed God separated. I was incredibly specific, so I don't know how they broke it."

All of a sudden, we heard a loud scream coming from downstairs.

"That sounded like Justine!" Ro exclaimed.

Footsteps rushed up the stairs.

"Are there supposed to be snakes on this island?" she panicked.

"No," Chiaki gasped.  
"Why?"

"There's this weird cobra and a cobra.....goddess lady at the front door along with the Cursed God and everyone else!"

"But I said no fallen deity....." 

Chiaki trailed off as she realized her flaw. 

"Wadjet's not fallen.....is she?"

Jael shook her head.

"Someone must've gotten in contact with her and made a deal of some kind."

"Is that even possible?" I asked in disbelief, not knowing much about other mythologies, aside from Greek.  
"Would she actually agree to help someone like him?"

"It doesn't matter who it is, child," Calliope told me.  
"If someone has what she asks for, she grants their wish. He must've had something she needed."

"But how did they even manage to contact her?" Chiaki stammered.  
"I confined them to the 5th island, I'm sure of it!"

"Someone else must've been able to get ahold of her."

"The traitor," I groaned.  
"This is stupid! I never fucking asked for this bullshit."

"In case it hasn't occurred to you, none of us did either, honey," Bretman told me.

"Yeah, but you all just got dragged into it. You can abandon me whenever the fuck you want."

"Not gonna happen," Ro asserted with such firmness and certainty that I was a bit startled.

"Huh?"

"I'm not gonna abandon you. You're my friend."

"But you don't deserve to get caught up in this shit."

"Neither do you," Alice chimed in.  
"And yet here you are."

"In case none of you remember, I'm the one who started this shit."

I turned to Safiya.

"You should've just left me in the forest."

"Well I didn't, because it would've made you miserable to be with him, and the world would be fucked if I hadn't."

"I'd take the pain over him fucking you all over. It's my fault this even happened!"

I began to take refuge under the covers, praying that they'd all leave.

" _Don't you dare hide from us!"_

We were all shocked to hear Justine snap at us, but me especially. I peeked out.

"I'm sick of you blaming yourself, Mystic," she said with tears in her eyes, approaching me and taking my hand.  
"None of this is your fault. You didn't know what you were agreeing to. And yet you're so convinced that it's your responsibility to fix everything that you've been casting us out."

"I just......I don't want any of you to get caught up in this mess more than you have to."

"We're already swept up in it all," Andrea Brooks sighed.  
"We can't do much about that."

"And now we've got snakes and shit surrounding us," Andrea Russett reminded me. 

"But what about the library?"

"No need to tell us. Jael put a charm on it. It'll go to the next safe place."

All of a sudden, a wave rippled through the place. Some people were frozen in confusion.

"Speaking of which, Envy?" Alice exclaimed.  
"You said you had something to tell me?"

I saw his expression spread into despair  ~~(Junko Enoshima has entered the chat)~~ and confusion.

"But I----"

"No time!" Calliope exclaimed as she quickly but gently removed my IV and gave me a chewable. The second I swallowed it, I felt much better. 

All of a sudden, we heard a loud bang. 

"She should be in here!" Sally called.

"Where do we even start looking?" Hightower slurred.

"Can't we just relax? This place looks---who the fuck are you?"

"Oh. My name is Gautier Descoteaux. Wait. I remember you! You tried to steal my Nadine Rose, you hentai freak!"

"It's not my fault I have tentacles! The second I marry Mystic and become king of eternity, I'm ordering Kerrie to put you in the coffee grinder first!"

"Coffee grinder?"

"I used to be a barista," Kerrie said.

"You never put that on your resume," the Cursed God exclaimed.

"There are a lot of things I don't put on resumes."

"You mean like Work Experience?"

"I put down my work experience as a Killer Clown!"

"You never put down your work experience for Being one of the Sun Flower People, a Mermaid, or emo, among other things."

"I don't need to. My name is everywhere! On Kerrie mugs. Kerrie coasters. Kerrie nail polish. Kerrie bobbleheads. Kerrie frozen meals. Kerrie keychains. Kerrie dolls. Kerrie matches. Kerrie playing cards. Kerrie toilet paper. Kerrie microwaves. Kerrie houses. Kerrie dollhouses. Kerrie clothing. Kerrie race cars. Kerrie baseball gloves. Kerrie baseballs. Kerrie popcorn. Kerrie body pillows. Kerrie laptop cases. Kerrie bananas. Kerrie lingerie. Kerrie condoms. Kerrie voodoo dolls. Kerrie video cameras---"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Kerrie  _condoms_?"

"Yes," she asserted angrily.  
"I may be a clown, but STDs are no laughing matter, Cthulu Squdward!"

"I never said they were!"

"Then why did you question me having my own brand of condoms?"

"Why would you need to have your own brand of condoms?"

"Because they're different and better than ordinary condoms. These condoms play my laugh whenever the dude----!"

"Okay, can we please go?!?!" I shouted.

Silence. 

_Shit._

"She's upstairs!" Sally squealed.

I fumbled around and pulled out a teastone.

"I wish we were somewhere else!" I wished.

Dust. Whirling colors. Screams.

And then....silence.

 

 

 

 


End file.
